Just the two of us
by navitor3
Summary: A minor powerstruggle has the swordsman and the navigator having to face that there is more going on between them than just petty rivalry.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My first ever multi-chap. It's rated M for a later chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters.**

TTT

Chapter 1

TTT

He found peace with her. In her company he did not have to do anything. She never made demands only silently accepted his presence.

They spent many moments like this. Her, reading at the table and him snoring on the floor. At her side he did not have to worry about falling nuisances landing on his head; disturbing his much loved naps. Only peaceful moments. Robin was beautiful he admitted to himself. She had such grace and calmness and he couldn't help but respect her.

Sometimes he'd ask her what she was reading and she'd try and explain to him things he wasn't really interested in. She'd giggle in a friendly way, never making fun and then they'd just return to their quiet understanding. _She_ was what Zoro pictured a female naturally was, unlike a certain other female on board...

"Zoro!"

"What, woman?" Zoro asked, resting on the floor, back against the railing and arms folded over his chest. Hiding out in Robin's company guaranteed him peaceful naps as he was spared from Luffy and Usopp's antics, but he knew it couldn't save him from that witch! Only death or jumping ship could save him from _her_.

"You were supposed to help Usopp fix the railing. she scolded. "He's struggling on his own!"

"He'll be fine. I told him I needed a nap and he said he could handle it," he answered. His eyes falling closed again.

"That's not the point!" she continued. "It was your job to help him. You were _ordered_ to!"

"Yeah, by you. I only take orders from my captain," he answered, calmly not bothering to open his eyes again.

"Oh you mean the same captain who broke the railing in the first place!" Nami persisted. "When I give an order, it's for a good reason."

Zoro didn't respond.

"I'm talking to you, you oaf!" she yelled.

Zoro continued to ignore her.

"Is obeying me such a bad thing?" she asked in an almost hopeless tone.

Still nothing. Nami really felt as if she wasn't there anymore. He'd been ignoring her yelling a lot more lately and it was very difficult getting through to him. Not even punches on his head worked anymore.

"I'll raise your debt!" she warned with clenched fists.

Still nothing.

"This isn't over!" Nami hissed and stormed off.

Robin watched the angry navigator walk away and then noticed Zoro's eyes were open now, and he was watching as well. A little smirk appeared on his lips.

OooO

That night, at dinner, Robin was flanked by Zoro and Nami. As usual, Zoro didn't say much and Robin happily chat with Nami.

Occasionally, Zoro would snort. Robin noticed it happened when Sanji would fawn over her and Nami. The other times when Nami spoke proudly about her duties as navigator.

"It's amazing that even with my important navigating duties, I manage to keep these guys functioning as a crew," Nami was saying.

"Nami-san is the smartest navigator to ever grace the East Blue with her presence," Sanji cooed.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun," Nami smiled, proudly.

Robin once again heard Zoro snort and she chuckled.

"Yeah, well, Nami, I have to admit you do keep order around here," Usopp shrugged.

"Nami is great!" Chopper cheered.

"That's why I picked her," Luffy grinned and nodded through his mouthful of food.

Robin then noticed Nami glimpse in the silent Zoro's direction.

"Honestly," Nami added, looking down at her plate as she lightly poked at her food, "I don't know what these boys would do without me," she declared slowly, "Sometimes I even have to stand in as captain and other times...as _first mate_."

Robin noticed the emphasis on 'first mate'.

Zoro suddenly gasped into the soup he was eating.

"What did you just say, witch?" he demanded turning his head to look at Nami. Robin gave up on eating further and leaned against the wall behind her.

The navigator turned her head to the swordsman. Robin noticed a glint in her eye, "I said, sometimes I have to be the first mate," she stated slowly and clearly.

The galley went silent.

"Say that again!" he growled, dropping his spoon.

"Oi, shut up, marimo," Sanji warned, moving to Nami's side.

Zoro stood up and stormed around to where Nami sat, forcing his way past the cook.

Nami slowly looked up at him and met his glare.

"Well, it is sort of true," Usopp blurted out just then. Unfortunately for him he was sitting right opposite Nami which meant the angry Zoro now loomed over him too.

Thankfully, Nami spoke. "Yes, it is," she said boldly. "You're lousy at obeying orders and most of the time you're on your butt snoring. You're supposed to be second in command, but instead we're always having to find _you_ and telling _you_ what to do."

Everyone looked at Zoro who was breathing hard.

"Well...I'd have more to say if I received more orders!" he retaliated.

"You do, from me!" Nami pressed.

"Not from you, from the _real_ captain!" he pressed back, pointing a finger at Luffy.

All eyes fell on the Captain who was too busy cleaning out everyone's plates to notice the argument.

"Well, that's true," Usopp said, again.

"Shut up!" everyone but Robin and the captain yelled.

OooO

After dinner, Robin came across Zoro who had stormed out of the galley after the blow out. He leaned on the railing looking out over the sea.

"Quite an argument between you and Navigator-san," she said joining him.

Zoro grunted.

"That witch is always pushing, picking on everyone," he growled, "She thinks she owns me and can just order me around," He referred to the enormous debt.

Robin gave a slight smile at his last words. "And what will happen now?" She asked, "She has questioned your abilities in front of the whole crew, how will you deal with that?"

Zoro kept his eyes on the water. "I'll play her game," he smirked, "She pushed...I can push back harder."

OooO

The next day Luffy couldn't wait to explore the new island they had docked at.

"Ok, people," Nami stood by the mast, raising her voice. "It will take two days for the pose to set. First," she began giving their orders. "I want Luffy to go with Sanji and help with carrying stock. Secondly, Usopp, you'll —" She turned to Usopp but got cut off.

"Usopp will take Luffy and go get supplies for repairs," Zoro's thick voice squashed the navigator's instructions. All eyes fell on him as he came down the stairs of the bow to stand next to her at the mast.

"How dare you interrupt Nami-san when she's handing out her beautiful orders, you green shithead," Sanji hissed from Nami's other side.

"Love-cook and the witch," Zoro ignored the hissing, "can restock the food supplies — as well as shop for dresses," Zoro smirked.

Sanji's anger vanished instantly when he heard he and Nami would be alone together.

"Robin and Chopper are free to do as they please; and I will guard the ship," Zoro finished, crossed his arms and glanced down at Nami.

"Yoo hoo!" Luffy cheered. "Let's go Usopp! A new island is wai —"

"Hold it!" Nami who had quietly been seething until then, broke through, stopping Luffy and Usopp in their tracks. She then faced Zoro who returned the gesture, still crossing his arms.

"That's no good. I'll take Robin and we'll go shop for books and clothing. Luffy will go with Sanji, and Usopp will get repairing supplies!" she ordered.

"No! We'll do what _I_ say!" Zoro barked back. "First mate, remember?" he announced, proudly pointing a thumb at himself.

Nami clenched her teeth and Zoro waited for her come back.

Instead, Nami slyly moved over to Luffy. Zoro narrowed his eyes at her deviousness.

"Well, captain? You gonna follow _my_ trusted decision, or _Zoro's_," she said his name with distaste as she gave him a degrading look , "Someone who only knows how to nap and fight?" she scoffed triumphantly at Zoro.

"Huh?" Luffy said. The unfortunate captain still didn't know about the rivalry going on between the first mate and the navigator.

Usopp whispered in his ear, briefly running through a summary of the situation. Unfortunately for the navigator, the captain was disturbed by her wanting him to accompany Sanji — and that greatly affected his decision.

In his most manly tone he announced his decision. "Right! We'll do what...Zoro said!" then he tugged on Usopp's arm and they jumped ship, eager to escape Nami's possible eruption.

Zoro's cockiness returned as he moved over to the railing by the ladder and leaned on it with one elbow. He grinned at Nami. "Well, Love-Cook," he addressed Sanji without taking his eyes from the navigator. "Go ahead and take your Nami-san shopping."

Sanji twirled around Nami, mumbling incoherently as the navigator clenched her teeth and glared at the swordsman.

OooO

"Oh my sweet, first we can buy your lovely clothes. My Nami-san must not wait on any man! We will find the best skirts, blouses, dresses and those sweet bikini —"

"Sanji-kun, could you please shut up for a moment while I try to think!" Nami angrily cut the cook off. She couldn't stand Sanji's fawning right now.

"Hai, Nami-san!" he obeyed.

They had made it into town, but the navigator wasn't walking in any specific direction at that moment. Her mind was too clouded by her anger towards the swordsman to think straight.

'That Zoro!' She thought, fuming. How could he challenge her authority like that? Didn't every decision she make benefit the whole crew? Without her they'd just be a bunch of boys playing pirates. Well, for the exception of Sanji who was very sensible when not losing his mind over women.

'I keep them afloat and their stomachs filled, with my unique wisdom,' She thought, raising her head with pride.

Another thing that bugged her was him teaming her up with Sanji! Nami looked over at the cook, who was window shopping on her behalf. She was not fond of the way Sanji drooled over everything when she shopped. She dared not ask his opinion on any outfits. Sure, he was good for carrying her bags but sometimes Nami really wished she could just tie him up outside the store. Zoro would pay!

OooO

Zoro awoke from his relaxing nap and stretched his arms. He loved a good nap. It was almost as good as facing a challenging opponent. He sighed and went to rest his elbows on the railing as he looked out at the island.

The annoying Navigator could fall under that opponent category. And boy did he knock her down this morning. He grinned slyly. And to top it off he teamed her up with the equally annoying cook. He knew she'd just love that! Zoro felt very satisfied with himself. He was eager for another face-off with the orange-head — as long as he was the victor — of course.

Zoro stripped his T-shirt off and began to work out.

OooO

Later, Nami and Sanji were walking back to the Merry after completing their purchases. Nami's had been done very hastily and Sanji had been rushed through his. She needed to get back to the Merry, so she could start reclaiming her position.

It was very difficult, however, as Sanji insisted on carrying everything himself. He was quite a comical sight, she had to admit, with his popping eye and drooling mouth. She wondered if he could actually see anything!

"Hey, Nami! Sanji!" Chopper's little voice called out as he and Robin almost caught up with the two.

Nami turned her head without stopping or slowing her pace. "Hey, Chopper," she waved back absent-mindedly.

Robin watched the navigator with amusement. She definitely was in a hurry.

Sanji couldn't turn his head. He was having enough of a battle with balance. "Hey, Chopper. Robin-chan, it's...so nice to...see you," he said, even though he couldn't.

"Would you hurry up?" Nami nagged on him. They were approaching the ship but it couldn't be quick enough for the navigator.

Zoro heard the voices and dropped his weights.

"Here, let me at least take that!" Nami tried to grab a tiny packet dangling from Sanji's little finger.

"Nami-san, don't worry about me," he insisted. The tower of Groceries and clothing bags leaned dangerously to the right as Sanji moved to pull his left hand from Nami.

Robin and Chopper saw the tower leaning over. "I better go help," Chopper sighed. Robin chuckled. She predicted a war would rock the Merry tonight.

Nami moved ahead of Sanji. Her hands eager to grab onto the waiting rope ladder.

Zoro strode along the railing, stopped at the ladder and rested his arms on the railing, watching Nami's approach. She looked up and their eyes met for a brief second, but Nami swiftly looked away. Zoro kept his eyes on her, watching her climb up the ladder. "Need a hand?" he grinned down at her without reaching his hand out.

Nami pulled herself on deck and moved away from him to wait for Sanji. "Shut up," she said, crossing her arms. "Go take a shower or something."

Zoro strode towards her, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Just have to start ordering people around again, don't you, didn't you learn anything from this morning?" he smirked, deliberately stopping close to her for a towering effect.

Nami's eyes flashed a glance at his sweaty chest which was too close for comfort.

Robin climbed up the ladder and saw the Navigator and the Swordsman had found each other and were focused on an argument. _And_ standing rather closely to one another, she noted.

Nami scoffed, "That was nothing — just a trivial victory," her head was turned to her side to look out for Sanji _and_ to avoid Zoro's closeness.

Once on deck, Robin stayed next to the ladder and waited for Chopper as an excuse to watch the argument up close.

"Nothing trivial about it," Zoro said matter-of-factly. He loved this! "So, how was your shopping spree?" he grinned down at her, "Did you and ero-cook have fun?"

"Sanji-kun was _helpful as usual_," Nami quickly said into Zoro's face. She found herself now looking into Zoro's eyes from a really close proximity. Zoro returned the look, silently.

Robin blinked with surprise at the picture before her.

That moment, Sanji climbed on board carrying only Nami's bags as Chopper had relieved him of the rest. Nami pulled her eyes from Zoro's. "Sanji, I can take it from here," she said and shoved her hands against Zoro's abdomen to get him out of the way, as she didn't want to be the one who backed away, but she only managed to shove herself backwards in the process.

She hurried over to Sanji. The cook saw her coming and immediately raised his hands in the air. "Nami-san, I'll take it to your room and ensure it is placed safely on your bed!" He quickly insisted, holding the bags up out of her reach and fleeing to the women's quarters through the hold. She sighed.

Zoro laughed this time and Nami rushed back to lay a big one on his head, but Zoro grabbed her wrist and stopped laughing. He brought his face closer to hers "Don't, woman," he said quietly, with a vague smile on his lips, his eyes burning into Nami's.

Robin blinked again with a smile.

"Urgh, you stink," Nami hissed in his face, trying to pull free.

Chopper climbed on board and Robin reluctantly followed him up to the kitchen.

Zoro loosened his grip with a satisfied grin and Nami pulled free. "You're such an ass!" she shrieked. He made her feel weak and she hated that. She had earned her authority over them! She looked back into his eyes with fury.

— But then, something suddenly dawned on her and she broke their angry glance to look over the area she, Sanji, Chopper and Robin had just come from. Zoro frowned at her distraction. She was ruining his fun at her expense.

"I wonder where Luffy and Usopp could be," she said in an even tone. "I do hope the captain didn't drag Usopp into some mess... _again_," she put emphasis on the last word and looked at Zoro at the same time.

Zoro looked worried.

OooO

On the previous island the crew had spread out and fulfilled their individual duties but as the sun was setting Usopp and Luffy were returning to the Merry from the forest Luffy had insisted on exploring.

Just as on Jaya Island, Luffy had walked away with a bug.

"It's almost as big as Hercules!" He had cheered happily, running around with his new pet and poor Usopp had tried to keep as much distance between himself and the black creature as possible.

"Watch out, Luffy! Keep that thing away from me!" Usopp had warned. It wasn't as big as the previous pet, but just as hideous.

Luffy had finally calmed down and was walking next to Usopp when suddenly his hat flew off and he turned to his left — the side Usopp was walking on. "My hat!" he moaned, swinging his body around to grab it back but unfortunately, his right hand swung around too bringing the bug straight at Usopp who had also stopped and looked back. Then Usopp felt a sting in his neck where Luffy's occupied hand had collided with his skin...

Turned out the bug had been some weird looking spider and had waited for an opportunity to attack as Luffy had a grip on it which prevented it attacking him.

Chaos had broken out on board when a frantic Luffy arrived, carrying an unconscious Usopp. To everyone's relief, however, Chopper had announced the sting was not poisonous and left nothing but a bruise. Usopp had fainted because he found out the bug had touched him.

It had been a close call and Nami had decided that keeping Luffy under supervision for a bit, preferably by Sanji when exploring new islands, would be a good thing.

OooO

"Great job, Idiot," she said, sarcastically.

Zoro grimaced. "If they're not back in ten minutes, I'll go after them," he groaned.

"Yes, you will," she said, dryly.

"Yeah, cause I _decided_ I will!" he defended, irritated.

Nami snorted and walked away.

'Damn woman!' Zoro fumed. Somehow, he still felt he was following her order.

TTT

**A/N: Next chapter coming up next week. **

**So that's the first chapter. Yes. Omg, writing a story with chapters is difficult. The other chapters I'm working on are very flawed, lol. I take my hat off to all those authors who have done it and succeeded in doing it and who do it on a regular bases. :)**

**I have to thank everyone who have reviewed, faved, and put alerts on my first two stories and wow, even put alerts on me! You are lovely! Thanx for giving me confidence. :)**

**I just have to mention that for some reason after my stories are published, I find the words I put in italics are still in italics, but have somehow turned bold. I prefer using italics when a character puts emphasis on a word, and bold italics when a character is shouting from a distance. This is really ticking me off. For now I'm sticking with what I normally do.**

**Thanx for reviewing, if you do. If you don't, then you'll owe me, hehe.**

**B'Bye now :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the writing style and the plot.**

TTT

Ten minutes had passed and still nothing. The sun was setting fast and Zoro jumped off the ship to begin his search for the two youths.

"I'll join you, swordsman-san," Robin called from the deck and climbed down the ladder. "I wonder if we should search in the forest first, seeing as we have to walk through it to get to the town anyway," she suggested as they crossed the beach towards the woods.

Zoro grunted in agreement. His last words with the navigator had left him in a bad mood, and he feared something horrible might have happened to the captain and sniper.

Nami stood on deck watching the two figures disappear into the forest. She had asked Robin to go with Zoro as she knew he might lose his way and Robin would also be able to back him up in case of any danger.

Of course, she hadn't put it as nicely. The words 'idiot' and 'probably get lost' had been used — but she was still worried about him, nonetheless.

OooO

"Luffy! Usopp!" Zoro called.

"Captain-san!" Robin called.

They'd been doing this for some time and the sun had already set but the forest was not completely dark yet. Zoro became more frustrated as time passed.

"Let's move on to the town then," Robin suggested. They walked quietly still listening for any voices in the forest.

Then, they heard it.

"_**Oiiiiii! Zoroooooo!**_" it was Luffy's voice.

"That's Luffy," Zoro said, "Which direction did it come from?"

"The left," Robin pointed, and began to run that way, but then slowed down and looked back to make sure Zoro fell in line next to her. When asking Robin to go with Zoro, Nami had also insisted on something. 'Don't let the idiot out of your sight for one second!' Nami's words rang through Robin's head and the raven-head made sure she kept Zoro in her line of sight.

"_**Robiiiiiin, where are youuuuuu**_!" that was Usopp crying. They were very far but it definitely was them.

Robin and Zoro fought their way through the trees and tall bush all the while following the boys' voices. Finally, they reached a clearing and Robin gasped at the sight.

"What the hell is that?" Zoro growled.

A large round creature, half the size of the Merry, was holding Luffy and Usopp hostage. It had giant tentacles and definitely came from the sea.

Luffy was facing the monster, each of his limbs trapped by a tentacle and in front of him, a big gaping mouth waited to engulf either him or Usopp. It had strange pointy teeth — each larger than Luffy's head. Usopp was dangling to Luffy's right, completely wrapped in a tentacle

Luffy successfully kept his body stretched away from the threatening teeth but had to swing to the right each time, as the creature was trying to lift Usopp to its mouth. He pushed his side against the tentacle, which held Usopp, keeping the sniper from the creature's mouth.

"It appears to be a sea creature that is able to survive on land!" Robin answered. She had read of these phenomena's existence in the grand line.

"Right," Zoro growled not needing to hear anything further. His opponent was in sight, all that mattered was taking it down.

"Grab the legs that aren't holding them, while I cut the rest!" he instructed Robin. Robin looked at the creature and crossed her arms as Zoro ran towards it, unsheathing two swords.

Arms sprouted out of the creatures three unoccupied limbs and wrestled them back.

"Zoro!" Luffy cheered, happily when the swordsman came running into view.

"Zoro, Zoro, help!" Usopp cried, desperately.

Zoro jumped into the air and struck the tentacle holding Usopp. The youth went sprawling to the ground, but two arms sprouted from underneath and caught him.

Zoro jumped again slashing the limbs holding Luffy's right arm and leg. Luffy dangled to the left and Zoro leaped in the air one last time, applying two cross swipes through the body of the monster.

Usopp hurriedly scrambled to his feet and ran out of the way. Luffy grabbed on to a tree branch and dangled with one arm, his other arm and leg slipping from the grip of the two tentacles, as the creature groaned and collapsed to the ground at Zoro's feet.

Zoro stood in the resulting dust, still holding a sword at each side — a slight smirk on his face. The swordsman was proud of his quick work.

Then the cocky smile disappeared.

'She's not going to let me live this down,' He thought grimly.

OooO

"Could you just not tell that woman _everything_ that happened?" the swordsman asked his three companions as they returned to the Merry.

"It is something to be proud of swordsman-san," Robin chuckled.

"Yeah, Zoro, You saved us from a giant fish with sharp teeth!" Luffy exclaimed.

"I think it was more of an Octopus or a Squid," Usopp corrected him with a shiver.

"Then at least leave out the part where Luffy thought he heard something and just _had_ to go and investigate?" Zoro tried again, through clenched teeth.

"Nope," Luffy said happily.

"You do know you're gonna be in trouble with the witch, right?" Zoro folded his arms, smugly reminding the captain.

"Shishishishi," Luffy laughed.

Zoro gave up. He'd have to face her and accept defeat.

OooO

Nami sat listening with irritation to Luffy's retelling of how they'd been attacked by a 'giant fish with sharp teeth that could walk on land'.

"Then, I thought i heard something..." Luffy announced in-between gulps of food. The captain was happily telling the crew the whole tale at the swordsman's expense.

Zoro continued eating, keeping his cool, even though he knew Nami wouldn't keep quiet for very much longer.

Poor Chopper quivered, scared out of his mind by the thought of a giant, sharp-toothed, fish walking around in a forest. He didn't think he could ever go walking in any woods ever again.

"Then, I turned off the path to the right..." Luffy continued, signing Zoro's death sentence.

Nami and Sanji sighed.

"Yeah, I tried to stop him, but..." Usopp trailed off glumly, but then realised he could actually adjust the story. "The great captain Usopp decided to investigate too!" he added with sudden excitement.

Nami and Sanji frowned in disbelief.

"I went into the bush...and waited, quietly," Luffy claimed the crew's attention again, "Then, I had to tell Usopp to keep quiet 'cause he kept calling me from the path," Luffy rolled his eyes.

Nami and Sanji raised their eyebrows at Usopp who promptly decided to drop his adjustments to the story.

"So...once again Luffy dragged Usopp into a mess," Nami's clear voice flowed over the room, instantly cutting off Luffy's narration before he could continue.

Zoro tensed.

"I wonder who I should blame _this_ time?" she put her elbow on the table and turned to face Zoro.

Robin who once again sat between the warring crewmates leaned back and folded her arms.

Zoro continued to look at the food in his plate. "It doesn't matter anymore," He said, "They're safe and I helped save them."

"Yes, it matters!" Nami yelled back slamming her hand on the table. "Luffy would have been under supervision if _my_ orders had been obeyed!"

"Yeah," Sanji added, dryly to support his Nami-san. He lazily sat puffing smoke from his cigarette, "You really messed up, marimo."

Zoro suddenly rose and took his swords. "I made a decision and I don't regret it," he said firmly, attaching his swords to his waist. "You'll just have to live with it," He looked Nami in the eye, and then walked out.

Everyone looked at Nami, everyone, but Luffy — who once again had more food at his disposal.

OooO

Zoro stood next to the galley, in the dark, looking out over the ocean. He messed up; he admitted to himself, but hell they weren't Luffy's babysitters! They were a crew. It's just weird putting one of them, especially the captain, under supervision, he tried to reason.

Then to cheer himself up he thought of how he had squashed Nami's orders that morning and how he just walked out on her scolding in the galley and all she did was sit there. Nothing was better than shutting that witch up. He snickered.

"What's so funny?" that voice asked behind him, coldly.

Zoro didn't respond. He continued resting his elbows on the railing, keeping his eyes on the sea. She might just walk away, he hoped.

"Hey!" she pulled his arm off the railing and Zoro pushed himself up to face her.

"Damn woman!" he growled at her. "Get out of my face; you're nothing but a nuisance!"

Robin heard Zoro's angry words as she emerged from the galley. She quietly closed the door and moved over to the left side of the galley to listen off to the confrontation. She had watched Nami leave the galley and assumed correctly that the navigator would seek the swordsman out.

"You're just ticked off that I'm smarter than you are and am practically in charge on this ship!" Nami hissed.

"You're a know-it-all that doesn't naturally make you smarter than me!" He yelled back.

"I have loads of common sense that you with your caveman brain severely lack!" she shrieked. If they were going all the way with this argument then she was ready. She was sick of how he constantly questioned her decisions as if they were automatically ridiculous.

"Oh and that naturally puts you above the rest of us. And we have to bow down to your will!" Zoro threw back, sarcastically

"Yeah! Without me, you guys wouldn't be able to take care of yourselves. _I'm_ the one who has to watch over everything," Nami snarled.

"I don't have to listen to you!" Zoro said with distaste. "No-one put you in charge! You're just a loud-mouthed, prissy witch who declared herself lord and ruler over this ship!"

"I get a lot done around here!" Nami spat, "All you do is sit on your ass counting sheep and worrying about honour and how strong you are!"

That last part stung Zoro deep.

"At least I'm not a thief who manipulates people and steals and lies to get my way!" he yelled with fury. "You're nothing but evil!"

Nami gasped with shock and threw a fist at his cheek, but Zoro grabbed it, then she tried to hit him with the palm of her left hand but he caught that too. She tried to wrestle her hands free, but Zoro continued to hold them in his larger hands. Their eyes burned into each other and they were breathing heavy.

Nami felt she might start to cry, but at the same time, a warm feeling rushed up through her body.

Zoro grinned at how he was overpowering her with just his hands. She might be better with her mouth, but this was where he pulled her closer, without their bodies touching, so she could see the triumph in his eyes. He was breathing erratically and he realised his heart was racing. He felt excited, almost happy. He felt heat growing from below. He noticed she was breathing heavily too and he could feel her warm waves of breath touch his lips. A need suddenly overtook him...

Nami still felt angry, but she realised she was trembling. She licked her lips, which had gone dry, as her mouth was open to release her panting breath. Zoro had pulled her closer and all she knew was that she was looking into his eyes from too close a distance and she felt his warm breath on her face. She suddenly just had to...

Their lips collided with force, pressing, pushing. Their eyes were still open, as they looked at what they were doing, confused, almost questioning what their lips were doing. Zoro still grasped Nami's hands, tightly, but there was no struggling anymore.

The yelling had stopped and Robin was tempted to sprout an eye to see what was happening, but she knew the silence could only mean one thing.

Nami felt her mouth lunge at his wet lips repeatedly. She was kissing him! This wasn't something she was supposed to do! Not only was she so close to Zoro but they were physically touching in more than one way, and she wanted more!

Zoro stared as he mauled her soft wet mouth with hunger. How did this happen? He had pressed his lips to hers. She was practically an enemy and yet here he was sucking on her unfamiliar lips and desperately wanting to keep doing it!

"Do you think there are more out there?" Chopper's trembling voice suddenly rang out as he left the galley with Luffy and Usopp. The poor reindeer feared there might be more fish with sharp teeth in the forest.

Zoro swiftly let go of Nami's hands and they backed away from each other. Their eyes wandered in different directions, but found their way to each other again, then away again. They still breathed heavily, but composed themselves well enough to face their on coming crewmates.

Zoro slowly wiped his wet lips with his thumb and forefinger and Nami straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair. Neither her hair, nor her clothing appeared dishevelled, but she felt ruffed up.

"Don't worry, Chopper, Captain Usopp will pro —" Usopp abruptly stopped talking when he saw the first mate and the navigator in each other's company.

Zoro put his hands on the railing and looked over board to avoid their eyes and Nami looked up... somewhere.

"Oi, Nami, you didn't hear the rest of my st —" Luffy started, but Usopp immediately threw a palm over the captain's mouth and he and Chopper quickly ran down the stairs dragging a blank Luffy with them. Luffy was then shoved down into the men's quarters and Chopper joined him. Usopp scurried up to the crow's nest to begin his watch-duty.

As soon as the trio had left, Nami ran down to the hold, and as soon as the navigator was gone, Zoro hurried up to the crow's nest.

Robin emerged from the shadows. "That was interesting," she smiled to herself. She then heard and saw Usopp being forced from the crow's nest.

"But it's my watch tonight," he protested, as he grabbed on to the rope ladder. Zoro wasn't responding and only silently sat down and picked up his dumb bells, claiming the crow's nest. Usopp then gave up and worked his way down to the main deck and then the men's quarters to call it a night. Robin heard Zoro lifting weights.

One day left on this island and then they'd be back on the open sea. She tapped her finger on her lips as she slowly retreated to the women's quarters.

TTT

**A/N: When starting this story I was under the impression that Zoro is the first mate, but I've since discovered that according to some the first mate position is up in the air. Guess I've been reading too many fanfic, lol, but heck he's the first mate in this fic.** **Thanx for reading. Please review?**

**Special thanx to the reviewers of my first chapter:**

**Anonymous Being**

**Cookiedough.x3**

**Raikiri80**

**Trunksmybaby**

**Perdyflower**

**Galindafiid**

**xXJeanetteXx**

**Blaeed**

**Fmdevil **

**And everyone who have read, faved, or are following.**

**You make all the sweat and tears worth it. :D**

**B'Bye now :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters.**

TTT

The next morning, Robin spotted Usopp coming from the bow. "Long-nosed-kun," she called.

"Yeah, Robin?" Usopp answered, stepping off the stairs.

"Could you join me for a moment?" she indicated the chair next to hers.

"Sure," Usopp said. Robin placed her closed book onto the table before her.

"What's up?" Usopp asked, once seated.

"I have a possible solution to the conflict happening between Navigator-san and swordsman-san, " she confided.

"You do?" he asked — then frowned, rubbing his chin," Well, only a negotiation could put an end to their squabbling."

Robin smiled. "Actually, Long-nosed-kun," she said. "My solution has nothing to do with their positions on the ship."

"It doesn't?" Usopp asked, frowning deeper. "But what other problem is there to solve between them?" the youth was clearly confused now.

Robin smiled. "I'll explain later, Long-nose-kun. Can I count on your help when I need it?" she asked.

Usopp considered her question for a brief second before accepting. "You can trust on captain Usopp," he nodded, firmly.

OooO

Breakfast was quiet with everyone, except Robin, expecting some kind of fall out, but nothing. Robin made it through her meal and noticed the swordsman and the navigator were especially moody, and did seem to have lost their appetites. They both poked around aimlessly in their bowls, although Zoro did manage a couple of gulps.

"Are you alright, swordsman-san and navigator-san?" She asked, mischievously. "You've barely touched your food,"

Sanji looked up, worried.

"Want me to help you out?" Luffy offered through his own mouthful of porridge.

"_No!_" the two growled in unison and dared a murderous glare at each other when they did.

Robin chuckled.

OooO

After breakfast, Robin left the boat with an excuse about getting a book she had decided not to buy the previous day.

Usopp tinkered around on board in the meantime, waiting for her eventual return, as Robin would inform him of her plan, and of what his duties would be.

On the main deck, Luffy entertained Chopper with stunts on the main mast, causing his body to droop as if it were liquid drops. Zoro stood against the railing with folded arms, absent-mindedly watching the captain's performance.

'I could really do with a nap, right now,' he thought to himself, but the last thing he wanted was that witch catching him doing it. He wasn't into being active on the ship and would rather just nap and train — even standing for too long was getting to him — but getting back at that witch was worth it. He loved putting her in her place and besides, no one else was doing it.

The swordsman absolutely refused to think of how he had kissed the witch the night before. Then he saw Nami coming down the stairs from the upper deck. Luffy finished his performance and landed on the deck close to Zoro.

"That was brilliant Luffy," Chopper cheered and clapped his hooves together.

"Quick, Luffy, give me an order," Zoro growled, eyes on the navigator.

"Huh?" Luffy said. "Okay? Uhhhh," he concentrated, his eyes scanning over the ship.

"Quick, dammit," Zoro growled again, but kept his voice low. He felt like grabbing the captain at the scruff of his neck and shaking him. Nami was now within earshot.

"Ah!" Luffy thought of something and once again raised his voice in a manly tone, "Right. Zoro, go water Nami's Mikan trees," He ordered.

Zoro's eyes drifted from the navigator to his captain in utter disbelief. "_What?_" he growled.

"What about my trees?" Nami demanded, stopping at the door to the hold.

"I'm giving the order," Luffy announced, "Zoro must water your Mikan trees."

Zoro and Nami then answered in union,

"Like hell he will," Nami said.

"Like hell I will," Zoro said. "I'm not touching her trees.

"Here we go again," Usopp muttered from where he sat next to the galley. He looked at the island, eager for Robin's return.

"You stay away from my trees," Nami stormed down on the swordsman, pointing a warning finger at him.

"I don't wanna touch your trees," Zoro pushed himself from the railing, ready to meet her anger.

"Okay," Luffy shrugged, his words falling on deaf ears. He went back to entertaining Chopper with his drooping.

That moment, Sanji emerged from the galley with a drink in hand for his Nami-san. "Nami-san! A drink for you, my love!" he cheered, happily when he spotted her below the balcony. He made his way to the stairs.

"If I wanted your lazy hands anywhere near there, I would have ordered it a long time ago!" Nami hissed up at Zoro, her focus on the swordsman, uninterrupted.

Sanji froze on the stairs only just getting an earful of the argument.

"I wouldn't put my hands anywhere near there, especially not if you ordered it!" Zoro barked down at her, "I wouldn't do it even if you begged me to!"

"I wouldn't beg you for anything!" Nami shrieked, "I'd rather take care of it myself than have you messing around there."

Sanji's bottom lip began to quiver.

"Oh and now you're just assuming that I'd do a lousy job?" Zoro asked, towering over her with his closeness.

"Of course you would!" Nami spat, not backing away from him. "You wouldn't be able to satisfy my demands, you never do!"

Sanji turned around and made a hasty retreat to the galley, wanting to block out the words flowing from his beautiful Nami-swan's shocking mouth.

The first mate and the navigator had once again, successfully torn each other down with insults and ridicule and now only stared in heated silence. Zoro frowned down at the navigator with fiery intensity. Nami glared up at him not intimidated by his glare — and then they felt it — something growing inside again. Their eyes fell onto each other's lips, remembering what those lips had done the night before.

Luffy once again landed with a thud onto the deck, followed by more applause from the little doctor.

"Moron," Nami hissed at Zoro, glad they were not alone.

"Witch," Zoro growled, finding his anger again.

The two backed away from each other, still glaring, before Nami went to the hold and Zoro went up to the bow to work out.

OooO

Before lunch, Robin returned to the ship and Usopp quietly joined her behind the galley. She gave his instructions and Usopp's eyes widened when he found out what the plan was.

"But they definitely _will_ kill each other!" he exclaimed.

Robin smiled. "I have to disagree, Long-nose-kun," she said.

OooO

During lunch, Luffy talked about exploring the island further. "I didn't get to see much yesterday," he said, oblivious to how irritated Nami, Usopp and Zoro were at the mention of his excursion, which ended so horribly'.

"You're not going anywhere by yourself, Baka," Nami hissed.

"Come on," Luffy whined.

"I second that!" Usopp exclaimed, "What Nami said, of course. And that means wherever you'd go it would be with anyone, but me!" he said to Luffy, still freaked out over the 'walking fish incident' and the 'bug incident'.

"Hey," Luffy pouted.

"That's stupid," Zoro growled, over his food.

"Oi, marimo, back off," Sanji warned.

"Luffy's the captain, ero-cook," Zoro said, looking up at Sanji. "He doesn't have to listen to the person who's responsible for navigating." Nami glared at him, but he kept his eyes on Sanji.

"It's ridiculous," Zoro added. "And you know it."

"We're not a conventional crew," Sanji said, keeping his cool. "We do things differently. If Nami-san thinks the captain should be watched, then I support her," he added.

"Are you going to accept that, Luffy?" Zoro asked the captain.

"Huh?" Luffy said and thought about it. "Well, I guess it's okay," he finally said. "I mean, it won't be forever, right? Hehehehe" he laughed, mischievously.

Zoro grunted with irritation. Nami eyed the swordsman. Robin thought she saw a hint of pain in the navigator's glare.

OooO

After lunch, Nami went to her room. She was in a foul mood. She couldn't stand how Zoro would rather take an order from Luffy than from her. Even now, after that idiotic Mikan order. He really made her feel small.

Zoro disappeared down into the men's quarters; he wanted that nap he had denied himself before. His attempt earlier at getting a sound order out of Luffy and rubbing it in the navigator's face had failed miserably, and so did his speaking up on the captain's behalf, and now he wanted to be anywhere that woman wasn't.

OooO

"Cook-san, you are aware there is a carnival taking place on the island today?" Robin asked Sanji as soon as the navigator and the swordsman had left.

"Carnival?!" Luffy exclaimed. Actually distracted from the leftovers Sanji let him have.

Chopper's eyes glowed with excitement.

"Hai, Robin-Chan!" the cook answered. "I planned on asking you and Nami-san if you two lovely ladies would join me tonight for a romantic evening, but I am so happy that you are asking!" he twirled around with his hands under his chin.

Robin chuckled at the cook's assumption.

"I wanna go! I wanna go!" Luffy announced.

"Yeah!" Chopper joined in. The captain was still under supervision and needed to be escorted and Chopper still feared the forest because of the 'walking fish' and needed protection.

"Actually, cook-san," Robin continued over the jabbering, "navigator-san has declined and won't be able to make it," she said, even though she never invited Nami.

"Reeaallyy?" Sanji cried, his eyes drowning in tears of sadness.

"Captain-san and doctor-san can join us," Robin added.

"Yeaaaaah," cheering filled the galley now.

"Really?" Sanji asked with distaste this time, looking at the two youths who were now bouncing on their seats with excitement.

Robin chuckled. "Yes," she said. "I am glad, however, that I will have a strong man such as you to protect me," she added mischievously.

Sanji's eye popped out and he shrivelled into half the man he was. "Robin-chwaan!" He exclaimed. "I would be honoured to watch over you and protect you and guide you through any discomfort which may darken your beautiful existence!"

Robin smiled. The first part of the plan was taken care of.

OooO

Later, Robin led Sanji and their two companions off the ship but feigned to have forgotten something and said they should walk on, she'd catch up. Sanji insisted they'd walk very slowly.

Back on the ship, Robin gave Usopp something that made him blush. He took it and nervously went down into the men's quarters.

Zoro lay in his hammock, puzzled as to why everyone else's hammocks were missing. He questioned Usopp on this as the youth climbed down the ladder.

"Oh...I...uh...had to fix...them," Usopp explained, hovering over the coffee table close to the ladder.

Zoro frowned at him. "Oh," he said, and rolled over, turning his back to Usopp.

Usopp sighed with relief and glanced down at the small table before quietly snatching up one of the three items resting on the opposite couch.

This was the scariest part of the whole plan. The items clanged against each other as he grabbed one.

"What are you doing?" Zoro suddenly asked, without turning.

"Nothing!" Usopp exclaimed, trembling. "Just getting some tools I left here!" he added. Zoro accepted that answer too. Usopp then quietly, but nervously, held the one item up to the rows of sprouting hands on the ladder, which lift it up and out through the trapdoor. He repeated this action with the two remaining items, praying each time that Zoro wouldn't notice. Finally, the third item was moved up through the trapdoor. The sprouted hands disappeared from the ladder and Usopp scurried up and out of the men's quarters.

"Good job, Long-nosed-kun," Robin said, the moment he re-joined her on deck. "Now, for the final part of the plan. Oh, and you'll take care of those?" she smiled, pointing at the three items now resting on the wooden deck.

"Yeah," Usopp sighed.

OooO

In the women's quarters, Nami lay on the couch feeling a headache coming on. It was more a headache from giving too much focus to an unpleasant topic. She was miserable and she blamed it all on Zoro.

Lately he'd intentionally been getting on her nerves with the silent treatment he gave her, whenever she ordered him to do something, but now he was openly challenging her authority.

This was _almost_ as bad as the silent treatment, but she could handle this. Luffy was nowhere near to being a proper captain, so Zoro could never ever be a proper first mate, if he only took orders from Luffy, that is. 'Besides,' she thought, smugly, "The moron loves his naps and training too much to do anything else.'

"Navigator-san!" robin suddenly hurried down the stairs, interrupting her thoughts.

Nami looked at her weakly. "Yeah?" she asked with a frown.

"Swordsman-san announced to everyone while you were away that they should not listen to any of your orders anymore!" the raven-head declared.

Nami's eyes grew wider and she leaped up from the couch in disbelief. "What?!" she exclaimed. "That bastard! And what did they say?!" she demanded.

Robin wanted to chuckle. "I think the most important thing is to put a stop to swordsman-san's rantings," she managed. "I believe he is in the men's quarters, relaxing."

"Thank you, Robin!" Nami said appreciatively and made her way to the stairs.

"You are welcome," Robin chuckled quietly as the younger woman shot past her on bare feet.

Once on deck, Nami reached the trapdoor of the men's quarters and climbed down the ladder as fast as she could.

Usopp quietly appeared from behind the mast where he'd been waiting and hiding, until he heard the angry navigator storm out of the hold, he peered around it in time to see her orange head disappear down through the trapdoor of the men's quarters.

"Zoro!" Nami yelled, once inside, working her way down the ladder.

"Huh?" Zoro groaned, disturbed from the comfortable nap he was sinking into.

Nami stepped off the last rung of the ladder; her feet barely hitting the floor of the men's quarters and her, ready to dig into the swordsman when — the trapdoor suddenly slammed shut.

Nami looked up with shock, as the room turned darker.

TTT

**A/N: Naughty, naughty, Robin and Usopp. Well, I got them trapped. Um, I mean Robin and a quivering Usopp did. This chapter needs work. I was editing and doing a spellcheck on my phone, while at a school play, lol. But I'm tired now. **

**Big thanx to everyone who cleared up the first mate issue for me! And that settles that, but, I'll probably have more questions to ask in the near future, lol. ;D**

**OK, so the next chapter will definitely feature the men's quarters.**

**If you have never but would like to check out the layout of the men's quarters **— **or the ship for that matter,** **then simply google 'Going Merry wiki' and select the first result that comes up. **

**B'Bye now. :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and I have never been in a hammock.**

**A/N: The trapdoor is now called a 'hatch cover'.**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT THIS CHAPTER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. READ AFTER YOU'VE READ THE CHAPTER, LOL.**

TTT

The navigator looked up at the suddenly closed hatch. "Hey!" she yelled, climbing back up the mast, thinking maybe the cover had somehow fallen closed, although she knew that thought didn't make sense at all. Reaching the cover, she tried to push it open but it wouldn't budge.

"What's going on?" A groggy Zoro came over and watched her in confusion.

"The damn thing fell closed and won't open!" Nami complained, slamming her hand against it.

"What?" Zoro asked, irritated. "That's not possible."

"Robin!" Nami called, hoping the other woman was still around. "Robin, help!" There was no response. She stuck to just banging her hand against the cover.

Zoro tsked and sighed out of irritation. "Get down from there, woman," he ordered, "you're not gonna get anywhere like that!"

Nami looked at him, frustrated and climbed down the mast. Zoro proceeded up and tried his own failed shoving, then slamming, and eventually, angry cursing.

"Well, doesn't seem like your way is working any better," She called up at him, smugly folding her arms.

"Shut up, witch," he hissed down at her. "Usopp!" he called, looking up at the cover again, "Where the hell are you?!" he waited to hear boots running on deck towards them, but nothing. "Usopp!" he banged even harder.

"Maybe he went to the carnival as well. Nami sighed in defeat.

"It couldn't just have fallen closed and gotten stuck," he insisted. "Someone had to have moved it there and covered it with something heavy."

Zoro's words went unheard as Nami's eyes had fallen on something — something wrapped in plastic. It lay on the surface of the round coffee table. She picked it up and realised with horror what it was. The little package went flying from her hand, landing at the base of the mast Zoro was coming down from.

"Ew!" she exclaimed, wiping her hands off on her shorts as if they were dirty.

Zoro eyed the item as he stepped back onto the floor, and picked it up. It was a wrapped condom.

"Gross, Zoro!" she shrieked.

"This isn't mine," he said. "Maybe it's that Love-cook's — just waiting to jump his Nami-san," he added with disgust.

"Sanji wouldn't be _that_ perverted. Seems more like something you would carry around," she threw back with equal disgust.

"I don't waste my time on that!" he yelled. Once was enou — !" He abruptly stopped his sudden confession and turned his face away in irritation.

Nami raised her eyebrows at his admittance, but then she was confused. Did he mean the condom or the other thing? "You're not talking about the condom, right?" she boldly asked the swordsman.

Zoro looked at the navigator with horror. "No, dammit!" he yelled.

"Oh," she sighed with surprising relief. Then she realised what he had said before. Only once? She pictured guys, especially guys like Zoro, had to have their regular fill. Unlike her, who also had done it once. Nami bit her lip. This was too awkward. She didn't want to think about him and such things. She did not want to picture how much of an uncivilised animal the moron might be in such a situation. Or maybe, he'd just fall asleep during it. She quickly put a hand over her mouth to cover a smirk.

Zoro dropped the wrapped condom back onto the table, returning her attention to the moment at hand. "Well, we're stuck here," he said with distaste. Then his eyes suddenly fell on her. Nami looked back at him with confusion. His eyes moved over her from head to toe, as if he only now realised she was standing there and didn't know what to do with her. He slowly slipped his hands into his pockets.

"What?" Nami asked with a frown.

Zoro still quietly looked at her. Then he gave one of his animal-like yawns. "I don't know about you," he said, lazily, "but I'm going back to my nap. He turned from her.

"Of course," she said, dryly. "what else is there for a lazy lout as yourself." She didnt avoid his eyes as Zoro glared back at her.

"Whatever, witch," he responded with equal dryness. "This is the men's quarters, you definitely don't have a say down here about what I can and can't do." Nami rolled her eyes in defiance. Zoro lifted himself back into his hammock and stretched out comfortably.

The navigator stood quietly in her alien surroundings. All she heard was the creaking of the Merry as it lightly bobbed on the gentle water. Zoro folded his arms across his chest, lying on his back. The reality had only just dawned on him that he was stuck with the annoying witch and would be stuck for a while. Hence, the stare he had given her. This was the only place he could ever avoid her and the witch had somehow found a way to invade his peaceful place. Wasn't it enough he had to deal with her dominating presence everywhere else on the ship? He hoped he'd fall asleep soon and be unconscious through this whole ordeal.

Repulsion was the first feeling that sprung to mind when Nami looked around her. The room was musty and smelled. She heavily suspected the three couches were mostly responsible — and maybe the rug too. Nami felt disappointed in Sanji. He kept his kitchen spotless, but how could he sleep in a room like this? The green-haired moron had probably gone back to sleep and she wanted to make herself comfortable too. Who knew how long the others would take to get back, but regrettably, the heavily soiled couches were her only options.

Nami carefully picked a spot on the middle of the couch by the coffee table, which seemed less stained. She kept her eyes from the rest of the couch. As long as the area she picked did not contain anything that would stain her clothing or as long as she didn't have to look at it for too long she could bear to sit there. She slowly sat down on the couch, feeling a shiver go through her when the back of her bare thighs pressed into the dirty fabric.

The unfortunate orange head did not know Zoro was spying through barely opened eyes and he saw the painful expression on her face with cocky amusement. 'Serves the witch right,' he thought with satisfaction, closing his eyes again to lose himself to his nap.

Nami sat like a visitor waiting to be received by her host, except, in this case her host was unwelcoming and instead of her back being upright, she heavily slouched on her knees. The wrapped condom lay directly under her nose on the table before her. 'Boys are nothing but disgusting animals,' she thought with anger.

After only a few minutes, she couldn't take it any longer. The stench of the couch was subconsciously causing her to stop inhaling air. She felt like scolding any one of those idiots. Didn't they ever clean it?

Then she felt it.

Tiny little beings moving underneath her naked thighs. Nami's eyes stared ahead, blankly, and her mouth fell open as she tried to process what was happening. Then she leaped from the couch, frantically brushing the back of her thighs with her hands.

Zoro, disturbed by the sudden activity over at the coffee table, took another glance and just then Nami looked at him and caught his eyes with complete shock written all over her face. "What was that?!" she asked in disbelief. "Fleas? Bed bugs?"

"The hell would I know?" Zoro shrugged, closing his eyes again. "Stop making such a noise and settle down somewhere," he added.

"Where, on your head?!" she asked with irritation. Nami looked back at the couch then down at the condom on the table. She bent down and flicked it off the edge of the table with one angry finger. Once it was out of the way, she planted herself onto the little round table, facing the couch now. Her eyes ran over the hideous thing. She didn't see anything move, but they were probably too small to see.

She cringed, taking in the sight of the whole couch with a painful expression. Firstly, the fabric was discoloured from dirt. She could just picture Luffy jumping on it with his sandals, every single day since they got the Merry. Besides the obvious dirt were cigarette burns. 'Shame on you, Sanji!' She hissed in her mind and continued her inspection. Multiple grease blotches were spread all over the seats from Usopp's carelessness. Nami couldn't believe the many food stains of different colours which battled the grease spots for dominance. And finally, if those yellow stains on the armrests were old drool stains, she'd just puke on the spot! She had no doubt, who had left those. Her eyes fell over at the jerk lying comfortably in his make-shift bed. "You guys are disgusting," she said to the unmoving Zoro. Nami shook her head at her unfortunate circumstances.

OooO

A half hour had passed by and sitting on the hard table was now getting to her backside. Nami rose from the table and paced across the area between the couches, inspecting the rug with folded arms as she did. Stepping on it with bare feet was not fun. Her pacing continued for what felt like another half hour, even though it had only been ten minutes. She wanted something to sit down on again, but too many possible candidates had been ruled out. The room had nothing else to make her comfortable on and that rug matched the look of the couches too perfectly.

The navigator sighed. Her eyes straying back to the swordsman. She caught him placing his hands behind his neck and looking very relaxed. The thing was nothing compared to the comfort her bed could offer, but suddenly, in this cold hard room — Zoro's hammock looked very appealing.

"Zoro," she said, from across the room. No reaction. "Oh, are we doing the silent treatment again?" she asked loudly with definite sarcasm. Nami started to move over to him, but the mirror next to the hideous couch caught her attention.

Zoro, who for some reason could not comfortably sink into his much desired nap, snuck a glare and saw her standing in front of the mirror now, running her fingers through her orange hair. His eyes flowed over the slender figure of the most annoying female he had ever met, standing in his room. Satisfied with her hair now, he saw her straighten her T-shirt and skimpy shorts, as if she could see her whole reflection in the mirror. She then gave the back of her thighs an extra slap, as well as her shorts to make sure no little beings were hitching a ride. Zoro's eyes caught the slapping. He immediately shut them, irritated at how she kept distracting him from that much needed nap.

Once satisfied with her reflection, Nami spotted the closet to her right — the boys' closet. She walked over to it with curiosity. Against his better judgement, Zoro snuck another peak, just in time, and saw the navigator's hand fall on the door handle. He grunted out loud. Nami looked at him, but his eyes had fallen closed again.

"Hands off, witch," he warned.

Nami smirked at his defensiveness and left the closet, deciding to work on him, instead. She slowly moved to the swordsman's side and folded her arms, watching him in silence. 'So, this is where Zoro sleeps,' she thought, amused. She never had much reason to come down here before, so didn't know much about the layout. Although, she did know there were supposed to be more hammocks. 'What's up with that?' She thought, confused.

Zoro knew she was hovering over him and chose to ignore her. He continued to lay still.

"Zoro," she said in a clear, even tone. No response."Zoro!" she raised her voice.

The swordsman clenched his teeth. The woman was pulling the same crap down here! The men's quarters might as well have been the deck, but this was worse because this was his sanctuary and the witch was practically yelling right in his ear.

"Would you please not give me that silent treatment, right now?" she ordered more than asked.

Still nothing.

Nami felt like hitting him for ignoring her again. "I want the hammock," she demanded, quietly.

Zoro couldn't believe what he was hearing. The nerve of her! He snorted and a slight smirk appeared on his face. 'Like hell I'll help make _her_ butt comfortable,' he thought smugly. He snorted again for good measure.

"You're nothing but an insensitive ass," she insulted him.

"There are three couches to lay your prissy butt on," he commented, lazily.

Nami pouted in disgust. "Only animals would go anywhere near those hideous things. Why don't you just use them and let me have the hammock."

"Shut up, woman, you're making my ears hurt," he said, nonchalantly. "I'm staying right here."

Nami wanted to go at him, but then she resorted to her usual tactics, even though he'd been showing less resistance to the debt threat, lately. Maybe another angle would work. "Zoro," she said in a voice he knew was filled with manipulation. He held his breath. "I'll drop some of your debt," she smiled, sweetly.

He unscrewed his eyelids and turned his head to face her. "How much?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

Nami smiled, happy to have his attention. "Ten percent," she announced with a smile.

Zoro grimaced. "_Thirty_," he said.

"Ten," Nami said with a slight frown.

"_Thirty,_" Zoro said with a dangerous glare.

"Fifteen," Nami said, trying to placate him.

"_Twenty-five._" Zoro lifted himself onto his elbow.

"Fifteen," Nami repeated, stubbornly.

"_Twenty._" Zoro pushed. "Take it or leave it!"

"…" Nami considered his terms. "Fine." she groaned.

"But I'm staying," he said, an evil grin beaming at her.

Nami shot him a stunned look. "But —" she started.

"Twenty percent only covers half the hammock," he shot back. "I'm being generous." Nami scoffed, folding her arms in defeat. Zoro let out a groan and turned his back on her, half laying himself onto his stomach, as much to the edge of the hammock as possible and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Nami looked at his back, wondering if she should do it. The space he had left her, she noticed, was clearly not half the hammock, but that couldn't be helped. It was meant to take one person, after all. Could she share that little space with the brute? Yes. She was that desperate. The navigator tried to figure out her next step. She didn't know how to climb into the thing. It was as if it had turned its back on her with Zoro weighing it down on his side.

"Zoro," she said, embarrassed, "I need help...getting in."

The swordsman clenched his teeth. "Forget it," he said.

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. "You better not stink!" she retorted as payback, looking at the hammock again. The edge was level with her chest and she knew this wasn't going to be easy. Turning herself around, she placed her hands on the edge of the mesh and somehow lifted herself up with the backs of her hands with a lot of effort. The hammock swung slightly.

Zoro lay still, but couldn't help a sneer, knowing she was having trouble.

Nami managed to lift her backside onto the edge of the hammock, but immediately felt she was losing control of her balance. Her hands were still gripping tightly onto the edge, but she felt her body veer forwards then backwards. She at least had a choice in which direction she'd fall. With enough effort from her legs, she could throw herself to the front and land on the wooden floor with her feet — and not her face, hopefully or she could guide her weight backwards and fall into the hammock and onto the lazy jerk behind her. With enough effort, Nami intentionally fell against Zoro's back.

Zoro's eyes shot open, his smirk gone now. The navigator lay with her head and shoulders resting against the swordsman's lower back. She reached her fingers into the mesh, grabbed hold and desperately dragged the rest of her body into the hammock and tried to move onto her side.

Zoro felt the woman's body move up against him and it affected him. His body was reacting to her again. He frowned. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for that sleep to take over...soon.

Nami had maneuvered the whole length of her body into the space Zoro had made for her, but struggled aimlessly to weigh down her side of the hammock. Try as she might, she only succeeded in remaining exactly where she had started, practically lying on Zoro's back.

Nami almost didn't want to breathe. What if one of her breaths sounded like a sigh?! They lay like that, in silence for a bit. Both, not able to completely enjoy the hammock for the purpose they had sought it out in the first place. Then, each became conscious of the other's body heat seeping through their clothing. Nami felt his warm back burn into her own. Zoro felt the temperature from her tiny back resting on his and stifled a groan, just in time. Their bodies instinctively relaxed against each other.

The same warm feeling moved up the front of Nami's body as the night before. She began to breathe deeply and so did Zoro. He wanted to groan out of pleasure. He wanted to press against her back and welcome more of her warmth, but all he could do was hope for sleep. Nami decided to break the silence to ease her discomfort.

"Where are the other hammocks?" she asked. "There are others, aren't there?" she allowed her head to lean backwards as she looked up, spotting the hooks in the ceiling. Her hair brushed against the back of Zoro's neck and he almost flinched.

"I don't know," he said, quickly answering her question so she'd lie still and stop looking around.

"It's so dull down here," she announced, inspecting the raw look of the room from where she lay, on Zoro's back. Her discomfort faded and her new-found focus on her surroundings, switched her natural bossy attitude into full mode. Her hair continued to attack his neck, and her back was now rubbing against his. "This room needs soap and water. It smells. You can't say you don't smell that. Don't you _ever_ clean down here?" she asked, raising her hand in the air. After asking the question, she dropped her hand back down and her elbow hit him in his side.

"Yes," he answered through clenched teeth after his side still felt her touch even though her elbow had moved away.

"I highly doubt it with the condition those couches are in, don't even get me started on the rug," she added, irritated. "I mean...why?" she asked, her hand shooting up in the air again, "Why live like animals when you don't have much else to do around the ship, anyway?" Her arm was about to be dropped down into his side again when Zoro, sensing what would happen, swiftly grabbed the falling arm, rolling Nami onto her side as his back pushed against hers.

"Hey, moron, get off me!" she yelled.

"So shut up, woman," he ordered. "I'm trying to nap here."

"Oh heaven forbid we get in the way of the moron's nap," she said, sarcastically.

"Nami, you're really getting on my last nerve." He pushed his back further against hers and his grip on her was more like a submission hold now. "You're lucky I didn't force you to sit on the floor in a corner, so shut up and let me sleep!"

"Oh please," she scoffed, "You couldn't make me sit in a corner and shut up. You couldn't even get me off this hammock," she smirked.

"What?!" he hissed, his anger reaching boiling point.

"You heard what I said," she retorted.

With that, Zoro dropped her arm. He then jumped from the hammock and stormed over to her side, but Nami had fallen into the empty space his absence had left behind and was right in the middle of the hammock now.

"What the hell, Zoro?" she demanded, surprised.

"Get out!" he ordered, trying to grab onto her.

"No!" she said, amazed at what was happening.

"Nami, I said get out!" he lunged at her arm, but she backed away. The hammock swung with the hurried movements of the struggling pair. "Nami!" he tried to grab her leg, but she pulled away as well. Then Zoro bent down and moved under the hammock.

"Hey!" Nami yelled, seeing him through the mesh as the swordsman placed his hands against the base of her body and gave one hard push upwards and the navigator as well as the hammock got tossed in the air, but only the orange head went flying over the edge. "Zorooo!" she screamed in a high pitched voice as she helplessly headed for the floor, but the swordsman caught her in time. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her against him. Nami's left arm lay dangling over his right shoulder and her face was level with his, her bare feet not touching the floor. She breathed heavy, still in shock. The flow of Zoro's breath matched hers, but he was grinning. "I got you out," he announced over her lips.

"Yeah." She meant to sound sarcastic, but her tone of voice turned it into an agreement. She was staring. Her eyes flowing over his face.

Zoro swiftly removed his left arm from her waist and grabbed the back of her thighs, holding her like a baby he was about to put in a crib.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she frowned, breathlessly. She grabbed on to his shoulder with her right hand.

Zoro carried her to the corner of the room — next to the hideous couch. Nami looked at his face. Through her surprise at the situation she was finding herself in, she couldn't help but think how she'd really enjoy this moment — in different circumstances. Then her legs were dropped from his grip and she had to find her feet quickly because he was hastily separating his body from hers.

"Sit," he ordered in a low growl, pointing at the floor in the corner.

"You have got to be kidding," Nami said with a sarcastic laugh.

"Sit!" he raised his voice into a threatening growl.

Nami smiled, cheekily. "Make me," she said softly.

Zoro then grabbed her around the waist with one arm, lifting her against him. Nami automatically threw her arms around his neck in pleasant surprise. Zoro grinned at her again and swiftly grabbed her legs behind the knees, shifting her body into a sitting position and dropped her onto her butt. He supported her weight with his arms, making her butt's collision with the wooden floor a little softer as she went down. Nami found herself sitting on the floor in the corner of the men's room, shocked. Her mouth hanging open at how the moron had manhandled her again and she had let him.

Zoro stood, beaming over her. "Yeah, witch," he said, proudly. "You rule with your mouth," he said, then knelt down to emphasise his next words. "— but you can't beat physical strength."

Nami's eyes burned into his. "I think you're right," she said quietly. She then pulled out all her physical defensive tactics... and lunged her fingers at the green head's hair. Zoro, overwelmed by the suddenly painful grip on his hair felt something shove against his chest as well. Nami had jabbed her knee into his chest and then threw her full weight against him. Zoro lost his balance and hit the floor. Nami went down as well, but quickly let go of his hair and dropped her hands on either side of his head, resting her weight on them as she dropped her knees on either side of his waist. Once he was on his back, she sat on his abdomen, straddling him and started choking him with her hands. She aggressively pressed her thumbs down on his throat to apply as much discomfort as possible. Zoro, who kept quiet through her whole attack lowered himself to her fighting style and grabbed hold of her short, orange locks.

"Aah!" Nami reacted, shocked again. Zoro still said nothing, just pulled her head to the right and Nami's body got pulled along with it. Zoro lifted his back up, off the floor and rolled his body over her, forcing her down onto her back with his full weight. His hand still gripping her hair. "Let go, Zoro, you're hurting me," she lied, just hating the discomfort of the pulling of her hair. "Get off me, you oaf!"

Zoro laughed over her lips and watched her squirm. Nami scoffed, pushing her hands against his chest. Her angry eyes strayed to his gaping mouth and her own mouth began to imitate the gaping. She suddenly had the need to...

Before she could though, Zoro let go of her hair, lifting his body from hers and her mouth almost followed his. Nami's eyes took over and followed his lips instead, as he raised himself onto all fours. His legs straddling hers now. "Yeah, I'm right." he grinned over her, placing his hands on either side of her head, but then...

Zoro frowned as his left hand had landed on something plastic. Nami turned her head to the right, her eyes following the plastic sound as he raised his hand, revealing the wrapped condom underneath it. Zoro pulled his hand back. Nami looked up at him, her lips parted. Zoro met her gaze. She licked her dry lips, only to moisten them, but his eyes watched intently. He suddenly frowned deeply, looking as if this was the most horrible thing that could be happening to him. "Where are those idiots!" he hissed, hastily moving himself off her. Zoro climbed the mast. "Usopp!" he banged again.

**On deck**

Usopp jerked with fright at the sudden banging on the hatch cover. It had been quiet for a bit and he had thought that maybe Robin's plan was working and Zoro and Nami were doing what Robin had predicted they would, so the last thing he had expected was a beastly attack on the cover from Zoro.

'Maybe I should just go sit somewhere else, while I wait for their return,' Usopp considered through his mountain of stress. 'Robin did say they should only be set free when the group returns,' he thought as he patted the heavy beer barrel he had dragged onto the cover to trap Zoro and Nami in the men's quarters.

'Yeah,' he decided happily, "I'll go work and look out...in the crows nest!' He grabbed whatever items he'd been sitting and working on to pass the time and tiptoed away from the hatch.

**Below deck **

Zoro climbed back down after once again getting nowhere with the hatch cover. He needed to get away from this woman! His body was doing things he didn't want. He had felt excitement rise in a certain area and had to flee her. He was good at controlling his body at all times, but never had to fight something like this. She was here and he couldn't escape her. The witch kept getting too close. He ran his fingers through his hair and started to pace across the dirty rug. Nami sat up, watching him. He was like a caged animal. She wondered what had upset him. Zoro couldn't stand this. He slammed his fist against the wall.

"Zoro, calm down," Nami said, raising herself from the floor and dusting herself off. "There's no need to get all worked up."

"Shut up," he said, distracted.

"Do you always have to be so rude?" She asked, offended. "You really are frustrating to deal with."

"I said, shut up!" he came at her, towering over her. "Why can you never just leave me alone?" he demanded.

"Because...you're this stubborn brick wall I can never get through!" she defended herself, surprised at his sudden irritation with her.

"That's cause you're always telling me what to do!" he barked. "You can never just back off and let me think or decide things for myself!"

"Hey, I don't keep you from thinking, moron. You do that all by yourself when you choose to be unconscious for most of your life!" she threw back. "And I wouldn't have to bother you if you weren't always defying and dismissing me, as if what I say doesn't matter!" she added sounding wounded and angry now.

"You don't own me, witch!" he yelled. "I don't care about your stupid orders and I don't need you on my neck all the time! Why the hell are you even down here?!"

Nami only now remembered she had a bone to pick with him. "I'm glad you asked," she said, placing her fists onto her hips with a frown. "Robin told me what you said to the rest of the crew!"

He looked at her with confusion. "What are you talking about, what did I say?"

"Robin said you told everyone not listen to me anymore. How dare you!"

"I never said that, witch!"

Nami looked at him, surprised.

"Maybe I should have," he then added. "That would be some good advice!"

"Damn you!" she yelled. "Just shut up, you moron!" She tried to punch his chest, but he knocked her hand away.

"You first, witch!"

Nami narrowed her eyes with fury. Zoro threw back a threatening glare. This went on for a couple of seconds before the green head realised what could happen. Nami still maintained the eye contact, but he broke it, when he turned away in a hurry to grab his swords to slice that cover open...

They weren't there.

Zoro stood in stunned silence. He was sure he had left them lying on the one couch. He then frantically looked around the room. There were not many other places he'd put them so he immediately knew they'd been taken.

"What are you looking for?" Nami asked weakly, still affected by the staring contest.

"My swords!" he yelled. "Someone took them!" Once again he climbed the mast. "Damn you, Usopp!" he pounded into the cover with his fist this time. "Where the hell are my swords, you bring them back right now!"

Nami looked on in surprise. Strange things were happening here. She then looked down at the mysterious, unused condom. Too many things were wrong here. It was as if someone — Robin or Usopp, maybe — trapped them together so they'd...

Nami suddenly gasped aloud.

"What's wrong?" Zoro demanded. He skipped the last few rungs of the mast and landed on the floor with a thud, anger encompassing his face.

Nami started to giggle hysterically. "We've been tricked!" She uttered in disbelief. "Someone wants us together so we'll —"

Zoro came closer. "So we'll what?" he asked, "Speak up, witch!"

"Think!" she yelled back. "I was made to come down here under false pretences and suddenly the hatch cover is stuck and won't open." She pointed up at it and Zoro's eyes followed.

"Your swords are missing, which they never are," she added. The green head looked at the empty surface of the couch, his frown deepening again.

"Only one hammock is here." Nami waved her hand in its direction. Then she hesitated for a moment before adding the final clue. "And most importantly —" she added, not taking her eyes from Zoro, "so is a brand new, unused…condom." She watched him intently as his eyes found the wrapped package on the floor. "Get it?" she asked quietly, hoping he did, as she did not want to have to spell it out to him.

"What?" Zoro asked, confused, "Just spit it out!"

Nami sighed with hopeless frustration. "They want us to use the condom!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

TTT

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: I rewrote the part where Nami get's into the hammock. If you prefer the new version then you can vote on my profile page. I've started a poll and will edit this new version in if it's liked more. **

**ALTERNATE SCENE:**

**The navigator tried to figure out her next step. She didn't know how to climb into the thing. It was as if it had turned its back on her with Zoro weighing it down on his side.**

**"Zoro," she said, embarrassed, "I need help...getting in."**

**The swordsman clenched his teeth. "Forget it," he said.**

**Nami rolled her eyes and took a breath. "Please?" she asked, reluctantly, sounding wounded and embarrassed.**

**Zoro groaned again and angrily turned around. The hammock shook erratically as he shifted his whole body to the opposite edge. Nami watched him quietly as he came closer, her lips parted. She realised this would be something she had never experienced before. Their eyes met once he was there. He hovered over the edge, looking at her form again. Then he reached his left arm out to her. "Come closer," he said.**

**Nami obeyed and went to him, her eyes awkwardly shifting to his chest. Zoro kept his eyes on her right arm. She only stopped moving once her chest touched the edge of the hammock and she had practically walked into Zoro's waiting arms, even though it was only one arm. **

**Zoro gripped into the mesh with his right hand and reached down, slipping his left arm through and under her arm. Nami inhaled, feeling his arm slip around her waist and his face now right next to hers. Her right arm automatically went up, but then remained stuck in the air.**

**"Put your arm around my neck," he said, beside her ear. Nami noticed his tone was not moody at all. It somehow reminded her of the times he'd saved her life. The quiet dependable presence he emanated when she was in danger. It almost clouded her usually negative opinion of him. She allowed her raised arm to slip over his shoulder. Her parted lips were close to his neck. She wasn't sure if she should lift her other arm onto him as well and she did not want to seem like she was eagerly groping him, but she went ahead and did it.**

**Zoro felt her other arm softly fall over his other shoulder. He was relieved that he didn't have to tell her to do it. It felt weird having to tell her the first time round. He couldn't believe this, but he'd have to press his chin to her shoulder, as if...as if he was hugging her. The swordsman lowered his face further, his chin resting on the fabric covering her shoulder. His arm wrapped tighter around her small waist, his fingers digging into her soft back, figuring a way to hold onto her. Nami's breathing increased with the new, unfamiliar contact she was having with the green-haired...moron. His chin was now on her shoulder and she felt his strong fingers digging into her back. She couldn't help but like the way his firm arm was wrapped tightly around her waist and how they were in an almost embrace.**

** Zoro then buried his face into her warm neck as his hand reached all the way to her left side and he raised her up against him. Nami exhaled sharply as she was pulled into his chest and lifted off the floor. She felt his warm breath on her neck, his hand pressing into her back. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he dragged her into the hammock. Zoro felt the woman landing on him as he brought her with him into the centre of the hammock. Nami got dragged with his body until he was lying on his back. Her arms still lay wrapped around his neck and his hand still lay rested on her back as they came to a standstill, both completely in the hammock now. For a moment, all they heard were their breathing as each of them looked into the other's eyes.**

**"Get off me, woman." Zoro broke the moment, steeling himself against what was happening inside him. He removed his hand from her back. Nami sighed with irritation, her warm breath flowing over his lips. She unwrapped her arms, slipping them out from under his neck, her chest pressed into his as she did. She then deliberately placed her palms on his chest, looking him in the eye, as she lifted her full weight off him. Zoro groaned. It sounded like all the air in his lungs was being forced out his mouth as he watched her retaliation with a blank expression. Nami clumsily straddled him with her knees, her eyes involuntarily meeting his as she did. She shifted her left hand onto the hammock, gripping into the mesh for support. **

**Zoro turned his body onto his left side again and Nami had to remove her hand blocking his path. She rested it on his moving bicep, hoping again he didn't think she was an opportunist, which she wasn't! Nami balanced on that hand as she raised her leg over him and out of his way and Zoro quickly began shifting his body back to the furthest edge of the hammock. With all the movement, Nami was having a tough time keeping her balance. Her not so opportunistic hand had left Zoro's arm and gripped into the mesh as well. She was planning her next move when suddenly the hammock once again flipped over to face Zoro's back, and the navigator lost her balance and roughly fell onto his back.**

**Zoro's eyes, which had just closed, shot open. He felt the woman's body move against him and it affected him. His body was still reacting to her. He frowned. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for that sleep to take over...soon. Nami struggled aimlessly to shift her body away from his and weigh down her side of the hammock. Try as she might, she only succeeded in remaining exactly where she had started, practically lying on his back.**

**Thanx for reading/and voting. :)**

**B'bye now. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I agonised over putting this chapter up 'cause frankly, about half of it is clumsy and horrible. It was pure torture to write, lol! Hence the late update. I'm still not happy with it, but without it the story can't move forward, so…**

**I really should not write these kinds of scenes. Don't laugh at it, lol! I'll just go crawl into a corner now. :$**

**Disclaimer: I refuse to be blamed for the length of this chapter.** **I do not own anything of One Piece.**

TTT

Zoro's mouth hung open in an almost grin. The rest of his face was in shock. Nami eyed him not knowing what to say or do. She was already fighting her desire for the swordsman and now the idea she craved was hanging in the air making it difficult to breathe.

Zoro never felt this embarrassed or weak. He already had trouble controlling his body and now the thing he was fighting to resist was right between them, in the open. He turned to Nami. "Whatever they're planning, its not going to happen," he stated, firmly. He needed to verbally emphasise that no way would he do that with her.

Nami forgot to breath. She felt disappointment flush over her. "Yeah, of course not," she agreed — verbally, but not physically.

"Don't they have better things to do than play their childish pranks?" Zoro growled. "Why the hell would they want us to do that? Where's the sense in it?"

"Maybe they think we'll become best buds," Nami said, sarcastically.

"It's nothing but asinine," he added. "Someone's going to pay and Usopp's on the top of my list.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll slice all the guilty parties up with your swords — as soon as you can find them, that is," she muttered with sarcasm.

"Don't you want to get back at those idiots?" he threw back. "You don't seem that upset about what they've done."

Nami flinched at Zoro's accusation. He was right after all. "Of course I am," she scoffed. "I mean, why the hell would I sleep with an idiot like you?" she said, trying to sound convincing.

Through his anger at her words, Zoro tensed at her using the word 'sleep'. It might not have been the proper name, but it still had its effect.

"You stink constantly and you're always in a bad mood," she continued, exuding false external strength, but feeling very weak inside. "You can't seduce a woman with such bad traits."

Zoro balled his fists and now tensed at the word 'seduce'.

"You're nothing but an uncivilised brute and I'd never waste my time with you," Nami finished off her long insult.

Zoro had taken in all her offensive words and now really wanted to retaliate, but also his urges were pushing him to prove her wrong."You sure wasted your time with me last night!" he reminded her with a cringe.

Nami gasped. "That was a lapse in judgement!" she hastily responded, shocked at his words.

They instantly fell silent, the embarrassing kiss hanging in the air now. They looked away from one another and it was at that moment that Zoro's eyes fell on the emergency exit above the couch of the missing swords.

He hurried over to it. "Nami," he said, wanting to kick himself for forgetting about its existence. "Tell me this thing isn't locked on the other side?" he asked, touching it and pushing his palms against it.

Nami inhaled sharply and for a moment Zoro had hope, but then she said, rather sarcastically, "Of course it is, you moron. It always is."

"Dammit!" Zoro cursed and slammed his fist against it.

"Hey!" Nami yelled. "Watch it with that thing! I won't put up with you putting a hole through it and taking away mine and Robin's privacy!" She came over to make sure the little wooden door, which led to the women's quarters was still intact.

"The hell do I care about privacy right now? I want outta here!" he spat back, really wishing his swords were there.

"Zoro, do you know what a problem Sanji would be if he had that kind of access to our room?"

"It's okay, Usopp can fix it up again," he said, absent mindedly — his eyes searching the room for a weapon.

"No, dammit!" she yelled.

Zoro looked around the closet area if Usopp had left any suitable tools behind on the floor, and lucky for him, he found a hammer. He came back around the mast ready to clobber that door down. "No, Zoro!" Nami shrieked and went at him pushing against his chest.

"Woman, get out of the way," he ordered, but Nami pushed him back.

"I said no!" she strained with her pushing attempt. And succeeded in getting Zoro to stop. That was only because he was surprised and amused at her taking him on physically again. Once she had him standing still, she kept her hands on him. "Please," she said, a little out of breath. "Don't do it. Sanji wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he had access to that room," she added, feeling his firm chest beneath her hands again. That was twice in one day she had her hands there. Nami pulled her mind out of its surprised state.

"What do I care?" He asked, looking down at her. His voice vibrating through his chest.

"Oh, come on." she scoffed. "You know he'd be irritating as hell down here." Her eyes fell to where her hands were.

Zoro's eyes followed hers to where her hands lay on his chest. "You're right," he said, "So because of that stupid love-idiot," he frowned, taking in the soft warmth of her touch through his T-shirt, "We have to sit here."

"Yeah," she answered, also frowning now and still staring. Her eyes drifted to his face and met his gaze. "So just," she reached down to take hold of the hammer in his hand. Her hand brushed over his as she felt for the handle. "Leave it alone." Her other hand still rested against his chest, but rather lightly.

"Forget it," he suddenly said, slipping out of her hands and went at the door.

"Zoro...you'd never be rid of me!" Nami desperately yelled. The swordsman froze. She stood still, waiting. Then she exhaled with relief. Nami folded her arms and came towards him. "I'd be in your face all...the...time," she said, stopping by him. "I never use that door 'cause I'd like Sanji-kun to forget it exists, but if it was gone...I'd have nothing to lose." Zoro turned to face her. She looked up at him. "Every nap you tried to have down here, I could instantly disturb, just like that." She snapped her fingers. Zoro grimaced down at her. "Every sweet dream you have," she brought her face to his. "Could end... with my voice, yelling your name...even...at ...night," Nami said softly.

Zoro's lips pressed together and he breathed heavy through his nose. He dropped the hammer onto the swords' couch, not taking his eyes from her. Nami maintained eye contact.

"You just can't leave me alone, can you witch?" he said in a low growl.

"Why should I?" she asked, in a low voice.

Zoro grabbed her arms, roughly. Nami felt an excited rush even though an 'animal' with fury burning in his eyes, had her in his grip.

"Why can I never be rid of you?" he stated more than asked, his angry eyes flowing over her face.

Nami stared into his scary eyes. "I don't see what's so bad about having me around. I'm not as bad as you make me out to be," she mildly defended herself.

"Whatever," he said. "I just don't understand why I had to be stuck with you."

"Maybe we're just meant to be stuck with one another," she said, breathlessly. "Look what has happened. We've been trapped together...with a condom. I guess fate just loves having me torture you."

Nami felt his grip increase. "I'm not tortured by the presence of you or that thing," he said, obstinately. "You're just ticking me off, that's all," he added quickly.

"Oh come on. I saw how you looked at it before," she said. "How you jumped off me as if you'd do something...with me."

"I told you, I don't bother with that!" he insisted. "Maybe you're the one reading into things cause you want me," he said, roughly dropping his grip on her arms.

His insults were starting to hit home and Nami's frustrations were building. She wasn't getting anywhere with him. "I don't want you, you..._dirty animal_!" she shrieked.

Zoro involuntarily reacted to the insulting name and her yelling. He grabbed her by the arms again, looked her in the eye and plunged his 'dirty' mouth onto her gaping one — hard. Nami's body went limp. Her eyes stared at him then her lids almost fell closed, but he pulled her away from him before that could happen, still holding her arms in a steel grip. Frowning, he looked into her eyes, at her face, trying to read her expression — waiting to see if she wanted more from the 'dirty animal'. Nami's breathing increased as her heart began to thump in her chest. She felt excitement run through her and heat build up inside her. She amusedly expected steam to escape her body. She saw he was hesitating, almost waiting...

"Take me, idiot!" she ordered him, angrily, desperately. Zoro, still looking at her, realised what she meant and he pulled her to him with the same fury as her words, his fingers biting into her arms. The kiss was a repeat from the night before, but this time their eyes fell closed, throwing any questions aside.

Nami wanted to press her body into his, but he was holding her at a painful distance. She forced her arms free from Zoro's grasp by lifting her arms upwards. Once he let go, she wrapped them around his neck throwing her body at him. Zoro squeezed his arms around her waist encouraging the pressure between their bodies. He stroked her back roughly then pulled his head back, breaking their kiss. Nami's droopy lids opened.

"Don't tell me what to do, witch," he breathed against her lips.

Nami looked into his eyes. "Whatever," she said, breathlessly and Zoro claimed her mouth once again, this time roughly working his tongue through to tangle with hers. They kissed passionately and Zoro lifted her up against him. She held on tightly moaning into his mouth. He moved them to the couch she tried to sit on before.

When Nami realised what was happening, she protested against his mouth as he quickly lowered them onto the dirty couch. Her eyes squeezed closed at the horror of it. The back of her body met the soiled fabric and was pushed further into the seats with the weight of Zoro's body over her. He buried his face in her neck, his arm supporting her back.

Nami had her nose buried in Zoro's shoulder and...he was on top of her, holding her, groping her, mauling on her neck. She didn't quite know what to do, even though she was the one who had encouraged it. She definitely was into what was happening, but it felt surreal and she had trouble finding her way into this union. Zoro on the other hand was on his way somewhere and the witch's neck was just the beginning.

He was as wild as she had imagined. His fingers dug into her neck with aggression, his body pushed her deeper into the hideous couch. There definitely would be no sleeping here. He held the back of her neck tightly in his rough palm as he sucked all over the side of her neck. Nami felt she could just lie there and let him do everything, but she wanted to explore him too. This wasn't an opportunity that came along everyday!

She felt she had to catch up. Zoro was doing things with her body and she needed to do things to his if this was going to be mutual, consensual...sex. Yes, sex. As far as the navigator was concerned, there would not be any lovemaking here. Definitely no lovemaking!

Nami withdrew her arms from his neck and moved her hands down his sides. She stopped where his haramaki began and tugged on his T-shirt, pulling it out from under the haramaki. Her hands slipped underneath the T-shirt and she stroked his firm back.

Suddenly her touch consumed him and he lifted himself onto his side. Zoro watched her hands slide from his back, around his ribcage to below his chest. He breathed deeply. He rested his head on hers, eyes still closed, wanting her hands to keep flowing over him. His 'first time' hadn't been like this.

Nami pushed her hands higher, eagerly exploring his strong chest and driven by his reaction. Zoro groaned, rubbing his face against hers, his hand, stroking her hip. He released his other arm from underneath her back, temporarily pulling away and sitting on his heals. He grabbed his rolled up T-shirt and pulled it off.

She watched the movement of his body as he removed the piece of clothing. Nami was amazed at what she saw. She knew that upper body so well, but for the first time it was all hers. He was making it available for her to touch and explore. She let her eyes flow over him and he watched her breathless admiration. He also removed his haramaki, exposing the rest of his perfectly shaped abdomen.

Zoro lowered himself beside her, onto his left arm again and waited. Nami turned onto her side, facing him and plastered her left hand all over his abdomen, touching the areas she couldn't before. She pushed herself onto her elbow and touched and kissed his chest. Deliciously including her tongue in the stroking kisses. Zoro grabbed the back of her head and kissed her, rolling his tongue across her parted lips and she parted them further accepting his eventual entry into her mouth. As they kissed, Nami slipped her hand from his chest to his waist and pulled his hips against hers. Zoro released her neck. He took hold of her thigh and moved his leg between her legs, encouraging the closeness she seeked. He took it further and pushed his body onto her, weighing her hips down. Nami ended up on her back again. She felt the pressure of a bulge rubbing into her and she gasped over his mouth, looking into his eyes. Zoro met her surprised eyes, clearly expressing his desire with his hips and forcing the reality through of what they were building up to with their foreplay. Leaving her mouth, he dove into her neck again and his other arm lay over her, his hand stroking her waist. Nami threw her head back. He continued the attack on her neck and she couldn't handle the pleasure shooting through her body. "Aah," she moaned outloud, rubbing her body against his.

Zoro stopped working on her neck and looked down at her. Nami looked back, almost embarrassed at her loud moan. The green head liked that he had caused such a reaction from her. He slipped his free hand under her T-shirt, his hand sliding under her bare back, all the way up to grasp the back of her neck.

A rush of air flowed in and out of her chest and her hips suddenly moved alone. A section of T-shirt was pulled up, exposing her stomach and she felt Zoro's skin against hers. His arm underneath her bare back was only increasing the desire for more skin on skin feeling. Nami wanted her T-shirt off her, but didn't want to be the one to remove it.

Zoro swayed his hips allowing his abdomen to rub against her small section of exposed skin. She was so soft. His arm underneath her felt nothing but soft, heated skin. He rested his weight on that arm and used his other hand to explore her further. To Nami's relief, his hand untucked her T-shirt further. He slipped his palm under it, stroking her side, moving upwards and Nami felt his thumb rub over the side of her bra-covered breast, but then his hand moved to her abdomen, spreading his palm and fingers over as much area as he could. All the while, he watched her reaction. Nami grabbed onto his shoulder, wanting some part of him to hold on to.

Zoro lowered his lips to her stomach, kissing her skin and grazing it with his teeth. She felt his warm wet tongue as well. Nami allowed her eyes to fall closed. She had never experienced anything like this before. Their movements, their repeated eye contact did not resemble her 'first time' at all. It was as if she had never been with another man before. Nami then realised something else. Somewhere along the way, Zoro had slowed down and was now a patient lover, and so was she! They couldn't be! They shouldn't be! This shouldn't be lovemaking!

Nami suddenly grabbed onto both Zoro's shoulders. He pulled his lips from her stomach to look at her. "That's too slow," Nami frowned down at him.

Zoro pulled a face "What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Speed it up...we don't have all day," she ordered, squashing what she really wanted and ticking Zoro off. She pulled her T-shirt off herself, but as she did Zoro did as she wanted and became more aggressive.

"Bossy witch," he muttered and claimed her cleavage with his wet mouth and groped her covered breasts.

Nami instantly froze and gasped. "Oh...Oh, shit!" she exclaimed. Her T-shirt was stuck midway up her arms now and not lifted over her head yet. She couldn't see what Zoro was doing, but she felt it, and Nami fell still again. She moaned again. Then she came to her senses _again_ and flung that T-shirt over her head and off her arms, but her eyes ended up on Zoro's head and she saw him in her cleavage and she wanted to watch him. She really wanted to touch him while she did, so she did. Nami stroked the back of his head. She closed her eyes, pushing her cleavage against his exploring lips. She rubbed his shoulders with her palms spread out over his skin. The orange head then wanted to kiss him.

Zoro, having been ordered by the witch to move faster, something he didn't think she'd want, lifted himself onto his elbows. He now wanted the bra gone. He wanted to see what lay beneath. Not that he hadn't practically seen everything already with her skimpy tops she usually wore. Especially the bikini tops. Those damn bikini tops, always teasing, tantalising the imagination. He slipped his arms under her back to get that clasp untied. Nami watched his lips. "Zoro," she said.

"What now, woman?" he asked, concentrating on the stubborn clasp.

"Kiss me," Nami said.

Zoro looked at her again and moved his body to get his lips to hers. Nami grabbed his face in her hands and desperately kissed him. Zoro kissed her back, but his mind was still on that clasp. Then he broke the kiss.

"Nami help me," he groaned. "Lift your back."

Nami licked her wet lips and found a spot to put her elbow and prop herself up, which caused her cleavage to deliciously meet his chest, making the removal of the bra just as important to her now. While Zoro struggled, Nami threw her left arm over his shoulder and continued her stroking. Keeping her chest to his as she nibbled on his neck, slowly rubbing her palm over his skin. Zoro nudged his nose in her neck, still struggling with the clasp, but the witch's arm around him and the things she was doing to him had him captivated. Finally, the clasp was unfastened and Nami lowered herself down again. Then everything moved in slow motion once again.

Zoro slowly shifted the straps off her shoulders, revealing her breasts. Nami stopped breathing as she searched his eyes, wanting to see appreciation in them. He had given her a strong well-shaped upper body to indulge in and she wanted him to loose himself in what she had to offer. Zoro shifted a hand to a perfectly rounded breast and brought his lips to it. She inhaled as his lips came closer. Zoro had never actually kissed one before, but he wanted to now. He frowned as he softly kissed it with the moist insides of his lips. Nami lightly exhaled and her eyes closed for a second. Zoro's eyes shifted to her.

He kissed it again, but this time more confidently. He saw Nami's eyes become droopy, felt her hips sway beneath him, felt her slow long exhaling. She gave his shoulder long, sensual strokes with her soft hand. Zoro boldly went at both breasts now, kissing them the way he'd kiss her lips or her neck, but gentler. They were too sensitive for that kind of aggression. Nami was lost in his lips, just fine with the pace they were moving at now.

Then she felt her one nipple enveloped by his warm wet mouth and she dug her teeth over her bottom lip with a small smile as she watched him once again. Their eyes met and Zoro sucked on her as he kept his eyes on hers. He then licked the top of her nipple and Nami giggled with giddiness. Zoro looked at her, surprised. He brought his tongue out again and licked the tip again with the tip of his tongue, gaining the same reaction from the orange head, who ran her fingers through his hair. Zoro suddenly had the uncontrollable urge to kiss her, and he did.

Their lips came together in another tongue stroking union. His bare chest and her breasts brushed together. The kiss was aggressive and moan after moan escaped their throats as passion started to overtake them. Zoro swiftly broke away and grabbed at her shorts. Nami gasped at the pace everything was suddenly moving at. Their breathing had quickened and they wanted more contact. She slipped the straps off her arms and dropped the bra to the floor. Zoro wanted her clothes off her and she wanted him back on top of her so she could wrap her legs around him. Zoro pulled her shorts off, followed by her panties. His aggression only fuelled her desire more and she barely felt any shyness about having her whole body exposed before him.

The swordsman stripped away his remaining clothing and Nami allowed her eyes to flash across his suitably endowed lower half as she turned her head to face the coffee table. She felt giddy again. They were really going to do this...

Zoro knew he had to get himself ready soon, but needed to hold her one last time before they ventured into the most satisfying part of their session on the couch. Nami turned her head back to him when she realised he was climbing over her again and covering her body with his. Her naked body eagerly accepted his and they embraced each other, pressing and sliding their skin together. That act alone pushed Nami's desire up to breaking point and she needed to have him inside her...soon. Zoro planted butterfly kisses on her chest then wildly sucked on her breasts. He knew that she might not be as aroused as he was and that she might need more coaxing in that direction. He just didn't quite know how to get her there, if she wasn't there already. Nami's hips pushed against his rubbing herself against the hardened area that lay there.

Feeling her desire for him, Zoro pushed himself off her and went for the wrapped package on the floor. He carefully unwrapped it, to Nami's surprise, as she'd thought he might have trouble with it, and would try and rip it apart. She turned her head to the side again as Zoro put it on and made the necessary adjustments. She almost felt shy. Any moment now, he'd enter her. Any moment he'd...

Suddenly Nami gasped. She looked at Zoro.

Their eyes met. Hers watching him in shock, his just looking back at her. Zoro had the ugliest grimace on his face. The grimace being the result of deep concentration as he slowly continued what he had started doing. He continued to rub his fingers over her slit.

Nami watched in disbelief. Not only was Zoro touching her so intimately, but her body was giving in to his roving fingers. Nami watched on, confused, but consumed with the pleasure he was giving her.

Zoro boldly, but patiently slipped two fingers into her slit. Nami gasped again. His actions were unbelievable, but so intoxicating. Zoro concentrated on her face. He didn't really know what he was doing, but Nami's reactions were showing him he wasn't doing anything wrong. He moved his fingers in and out of her then rubbed the outside of her slit again.

Nami looked at his face. His grimace was so unpleasant and she thought it was because he had to touch her down there. She couldn't take the look anymore. "Zoro," she whispered as she lifted herself onto her elbow to push his hand away. "It's oka-" then the navigator gasped again when Zoro's fingers brushed against her clit.

He frowned very deeply now. He hovered over the spot she had reacted to so suddenly and rubbed there again. Nami dropped back on to the couch. Her hips putting pressure into his hand. Zoro put his other hand next to her side and leaned over her, the grimace gone now, watching her reactions to what he was doing to her. Nami panted, her eyes opened and she looked back at him with droopy lids. She whimpered and moaned, gasps of breath escaping her open mouth. Zoro lowered his face to hers and she kissed his hovering lips, holding his face in her hands. His fingers covered the whole area now. Her slit and back up to her clit, then slipping back inside her and rubbing her clit with his thumb, wildly driving her to the edge. He loved the control he had over her, but he didn't know how much longer he should continue as he needed to take care of himself too.

"Now," Nami suddenly said over his lips.

Zoro raised his hips to hers, his hands now supporting his weight as he shifted himself into place. He removed his right hand again and used it to guide himself into her, carefully. Nami lay still, her eyes meeting his as he watched her, studying her reaction, noticing her slight discomfort as he moved into her. Nami's body slowly accepted him as he retreated and re-entered and she moved her hips to ease his entry. "You okay?" he asked, awkwardly, once he was fully inside her. A deep frown etched on his brow.

Nami nodded and Zoro gently began to move in and out of her. The swordsman was still learning as he went along and felt he had to move inside of her to make sure she was ready. Nami's discomfort faded and her urges took over. She reached her arms out to him and Zoro lowered his chest to hers, wrapping his arms around her, his shoulder resting under her chin. His earrings rubbed against her cheek and jingled, just another reminder with whom she was doing this. Nami slipped her arms over his strong shoulders and Zoro began to thrust.

A slight smile appeared on Nami's lips. Zoro gave a couple of slow thrusts and then he groaned as he started to push harder, putting more aggression into his thrusts and choosing to not to be gentle with the witch. After all, that was how they communicated. Nami accepted the force he was using against her. She would try to meet his thrusts, but for the time just concentrated on him hitting her in the right place. She used her hips to gain satisfaction. She felt her urgency to push into him rise now and Zoro felt her hips join him in his thrusts. "Harder," Nami ordered through jerking gasps.

"Witch," Zoro threw back through similar gasps and pounded into her with extra speed. Nami threw one leg over his waist and held onto him as she pushed her hips into him with even more urgency. She started to whimper with need as her climax grew. Zoro's grasp around her tightened as he used everything he had to push her over the edge. Nami finally came, driving her hips into his seeing her orgasm through. Zoro continued to move as fast as he could until he felt her relax around him. Her arms left his shoulders, her leg fell back on to the couch and he watched her head drop down, her eyes closing and her breathing slowing down.

The swordsman moved very slowly now. He lifted his face to hers. He watched her with a frown, felt her hips jerk with sensitivity as he still moved inside her. He saw her flushed face and how she looked exhausted. She exhaled sharply, over and over before her breathing more or less returned to normal. Then he saw her eyes open. She looked up at him with a satisfied smile. Zoro stared back at her. He had given her what she wanted and Nami couldn't help letting the smile show.

She then put her hands onto his shoulders. "Get up," she whispered and pushed slightly.

A scowl spread over Zoro's face. "What the hell, witch?" he frowned.

"Just get up, moron," she insisted, pushing against his left shoulder. "Sit against the back." she slapped her other hand against the back of the couch.

Zoro finally understood. Nami waited for him to pull away from her, but instead, Zoro jerked her body up with his, holding her hips against his. "Zoro," she gasped as he pulled her up in the air, throwing her front against his, not slipping out of her. Nami grabbed on tightly with her arms around his shoulders as she was awkwardly plastered against him as he rose onto his knees. She wrapped her legs around his waist and Zoro turned his body before standing one foot onto the floor for support. He kept himself planted inside of her as he lowered his body back on to the couch. Nami had to move her legs out of the way and Zoro supported her butt as he came down into a sitting position. It was the most uncomfortable and silliest thing, but she couldn't help liking it. The way he moved inside her, the way he held her, the way he really was a moron sometimes.

He brought her down into his lap as he landed back on the couch and they both felt the impact of the landing where they were so deeply joined. Straddling him, Nami grabbed the back of his neck with her hands, making sure he was deep inside her before she started to move. Up and down she moved, pushing her hips into his at the same time. Zoro's hand was still on her butt, helping her push her hips into his.

He watched her face as she pleased him; Nami returned his stare, liking the urgency in his eyes and his movements. She leaned closer to him and Zoro licked her nipples the way he knew she liked then he spread big wet kisses all over her breasts and she felt rushed air flowing over her skin from his nose. Nami ran her fingernails through his hair at the base of his neck. She couldn't take her eyes from the strong man beneath her, who needed only her body to satisfy him at that moment. He shifted his hand from her hip and placed it behind her back as she picked up her pace. Nami wanted to give him what he wanted, she wanted to push him over the edge, the way he had done to her. Zoro felt he was getting closer to release and grabbed her hips with his rough hands. "Harder," he ordered, pushing her hips down, roughly.

Nami clenched her teeth. "Bastard," she retaliated, dropping herself harder and faster on him with the aid of his hands on her hips. Zoro began to thrust into her with so much intensity that Nami felt her emotions run wild. She threw her hands against the wooden wall behind him. "Aaah," she gasped, not quite keeping up with his aggressive pace. Then he came inside her with a throbbing heat and Nami felt him thrust into her a few more times before he pulled her hips tightly against him and he fell still. She continued to pant even though it was all over now. Zoro's face was buried in her shoulder and she instantly placed her palms on his head, stroking his hair as his warm breath flowed against her skin. His hands stroked her back and Nami only wanted one thing, to stay just the way they were. She wanted the moment to last a little longer. She knew awkwardness would follow, but she needed to hold him until then.

Zoro suddenly broke the moment and pulled his head back. His move forcing her to stop embracing him. He didn't like feeling vulnerable in the witch's arms. His hands slipped off her as well and he ran his fingers through his hair, keeping his cool. Nami realised she had to remove herself and put her hand on his shoulder for support as she raised herself off his lap. She felt him slip out of her as she left all physical contact with him behind. Her shaky legs barely supported her weight as she stood up and desperately turned away from him to seek out her scattered clothing items.

Zoro lifted himself off the couch as well, to remove the condom and gather his clothes. They moved in silence. Their backs to one another. Nami had dressed into her T-shirt and underwear and turned to find the rest of her clothes. Zoro, who had his pants on, picked up her shorts and handed it to her. They silently looked at each other. He then turned away and pulled his T-shirt and boots on. Nami quickly finished dressing and sat down on the coffee table, her back to the couch. Zoro had awkwardly slipped the now used condom back into its torn packet and dumped it in the corner next to the couch.

They had nothing to say. Just a moment ago they were fierce lovers working together to satisfy their needs, but now they were just two people again, who barely ever communicated on any level than anger and irritation. Zoro moved to the other couch — which was missing his precious swords — and Nami watched with discomfort as he planted himself right opposite her, elbows resting on his knees. She dared to look at him. Zoro was frowning at the floor. He seemed deep in thought. She expected he'd be trying to take a nap. Nami couldn't stand the awkwardness.

Zoro glared at the floor. Reality was sinking in and he was thinking hard about whether what just happened would change anything. She wouldn't want anything or expect anything from him, would she? He thought again how this was nothing like his 'first time'. This experience had been more intense than anything he'd ever experienced with a woman and now he couldn't just walk away. They'd continue being on the same ship together, bumping into each other every single day. His mind couldn't calm the fear that was cropping up inside of him.

Nami couldn't stand the silence. It was enough she was having trouble re-gaining her senses and shifting what just happened to the back of her mind, but the silence was eating her up. She needed to start ticking him off again.

"So, where do you think your swords are?" she boldly asked.

Zoro's mouth began to twitch as a low growl could be heard slipping through his clenched teeth and slightly parted lips. His eyes travelled up to the closed hatch.

Nami looked on, satisfied. "So what now?" she asked. "We're still stuck." Her eyes flowed over the room. "Why don't you guys have anything down here? Not one book," she moaned.

"We come down here to sleep," he answered with aggression.

"I don't know how you could with all the sleeping you do out there," she sighed.

Zoro groaned, irritation bursting out of him. "Why don't you just shut up," he retaliated.

"Why don't you just grow up!" Nami spat back. "Ugh!" she stood up and climbed up a few rungs of the mast. "Usopp, let me out I don't wanna be stuck with this animal!" She whined.

Of course there was no reply and she started down the mast again, but her toes just missed the rung and she fell backwards. Already cautious over her climbing the mast, Zoro was ready and jumped from the couch, catching her in time.

"Watch what you're doing!" he warned as he put her down.

"I just slipped! It's a couple of rungs after all not a pair of stairs!" she threw back. Then she looked up. "Usopp, I almost fell, you moron!" she screamed without moving away from Zoro. "Uuusooopp!" she shrieked, banging her fists against the mast.

Zoro couldn't stand the yelling and roughly grabbed her arms and planted a hard kiss over her loud mouth. Nami's eyes widened and she pushed against him. "Hey!" she scolded

"It's the only time you'll shut up, so shut up!" he said, frowning

Nami looked at him, offended. "Don't think you can just plant your dry lips on me anytime you want," she said, still in shock.

"Oh so I can when you want it?" he barked down at her.

"Yeah!" she said sarcastically, turning away quickly to hide a blush.

Zoro grabbed on to a rung and glared up at the closed hatch. "Where the hell are they?" he growled

"Having fun at our expense."

"And what we did wasn't fun?" Zoro questioned.

Nami kept her back to him. "It was something to pass the time with," she said, trying to sound casual.

"Well, we should come up with more things to pass the time with," he suggested in an even tone.

'What does he mean?' She thought. Nami turned around and saw Zoro stripping his T-shirt off again. She gulped. Zoro dropped himself on to his hands...and proceeded to do push-ups. "Oh brother," Nami mumbled, rolling her eyes.

OooO

A half hour later Zoro was still at it. Nami had paced around and watched, sat on the hammock and watched. Now she lay in the hammock and watched. She was bored. He had moved from push-ups to crunches.

"Hey," she said.

"What?" Zoro asked, not breaking his concentration.

"Stop that," she demanded

Zoro stopped and looked at her with no expression. She lay on her side, facing him. Her long legs stretched out.

"I'm bored," she said.

"Push-ups can cure that," he said with seriousness, starting to move again

"How about dry lips?" she asked quietly

Zoro stopped again and looked at her. "Oh so now you want it?" he asked in a low, base tone.

OooO

**On Deck**

Usopp spotted the group returning. Luffy and Chopper ran across the sand with balloons and trinkets and Robin and Sanji strolled comfortably, chatting. "About time," he sighed with relief. He climbed down from the crow's nest and landed quietly on deck.

The sniper snuck over to the covered hatch and listened. He heard nothing. Well, he'd just quietly shift the extremely heavy barrel out of the way...then run, and boy would he run — all the way back up to the crow's nest.

OooO

**Below deck**

"Yeah, I want it," Nami said, quietly.

Zoro rose and came over to her. Nami still lay on her side and watched him. He slowly lifted himself into the hammock with his strong arms and legs, moving over her body with his as she rolled onto her back.

"I didn't say I wanted your sweat," she said

Zoro grunted, rubbing his body against hers as he lowered himself on top of her. "You wanted my lips, witch," he said, quietly, holding them above hers.

"Yes," she whispered against them and ran her fingers through his hair pulling his head down. They kissed softly, their lips melting together. Zoro wrapped his one arm around her neck and the other around her waist and they were lost in each other.

The hatch cover was free to be opened.

OooO

**On deck**

Sanji gently took Robin's hand as she reached the top of the ladder and he helped her on deck. "Robin-cha-" he tried to say, but Robin swiftly placed a soft finger over his lips.

Sanji began to quiver. Robin quietly hooked her arm in his and walked him across the deck and up the stairs to the galley, her eyes drifting to the closed hatch. Once inside the galley, she pulled away from the cook. "Robin-chan," Sanji said with a blush. "I was going to say I must check on Nami-san..."

"I know, cook-san, but I enjoyed our walk so much, I just wanted you all to myself for a few more minutes," she answered, twisting the truth with an adoring smile.

"Robin-Chan, we can sit together or walk together any time you want! Just ask, my dear! All you have to do is ask and I'll do whatever you want, at any -"

"Thank you, cook-san, I will remember that." she smiled. "Now, how about you start on dinner and I'll check on navigator-san," she suggested.

"Hai, Robin-Chan!" he smiled broadly. Robin had to offer to check on Nami as Sanji had been concerned about Nami's headache before.

Robin left the galley and quietly descended the stairs, eyeing the hatch. The cover was still on, but Usopp had removed the barrel. She looked up at the crow's nest and into Usopp's face. The raven head waved up at him and he waved back, weakly before she gently made her way to the women's quarters.

Usopp then watched how Luffy came shooting up into the air from the beach with a very nervous Chopper under his arm, but the two had a successful landing on the bow. Usopp was relieved they had come on board that way. As long as they were not on the main deck. The longer the navigator and the swordsman thought they were still trapped, the longer he could still breathe. Usopp helplessly sank to the floor of the crow's nest.

OooO

**Below deck**

Zoro kissed Nami's stomach, slowly, while moving her T-shirt out of the way. Nami enjoyed every kiss, but mostly the ones which involved his tongue also touching her skin. She sighed, running her nails through his hair, her eyes closed. He brought his face back to hers and hovered his lips over hers. Nami met his gaze. She lightly ran the tip of her tongue over his top lip. Zoro opened his mouth and lowered it over her protruding tongue and they inhaled deeply in preparation for a long lingering kiss. Her tongue was in his warm mouth starting to dance with his, their lips coming together. Dry, firm, lips meeting soft, wet ones —

Suddenly they heard running above.

Their mouths separated. They listened. They heard the running feet again followed by what sounded like hooves trotting on deck. They looked at each other for a moment. Zoro lifted himself from Nami, dropped out of the hammock and climbed the mast. He pushed at the hatch cover and it opened. Nami squinted at the light flooding in and moved out of the hammock, straightening her clothes.

Zoro looked at her and climbed back down the mast. He slowly stood aside for her to climb up, not moving his hand from the edge of the one rung. The navigator reached the base of the mast and took hold of the same rung, her hand brushing against his. Zoro's face was close to her hair before she lifted herself up.

Nami climbed the mast and disappeared through the open hatch, re-entering the real world.

TTT

**A/N: All I have to say is...I had them trapped and...I wanted them to do the deed...unfortunately...I felt...it had to be done with descriptions...and all...and then...I only realised...I was the one who'd have to write it! I'm not joking, lol! Is it right that an author is horrified at her own written love scene? Anyway, at least Nami and Zoro are finally free again, hehe.**

**NOTICE: For those who haven't read it yet, check out the alternate hammock scene underneath Chapter 4. That's the hammock scene from Chapter 4, not this hammock scene from Chapter 5. I need a rest! Lol.**

**B'Bye now :$**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I still do not own anything of One Piece.**

TTT

Nami hurried over to the women's-quarters. She could hear Luffy and Chopper running and laughing on the bow, but she didn't want anyone to see her. She felt distant from everything — strange. Her thoughts were muddled as if waking from a dream and re-entering reality. She felt exposed, as if she was being watched, as she crossed the little space between the hatch of the men's-quarters and the door to the hold.

OooO

Usopp watched the navigator from his safe spot — the crow's nest. He saw her disappear into the hold and shut the door behind her. He wanted to get some rope in the hold and he didn't think she'd come out any time soon, so all he needed to wait for was the scary swordsman.

OooO

Zoro remained standing by the ladder after watching the navigator leave. Suddenly he was alone and back in the men's quarters. There was no annoying witch, just his room. He thought of what they had done there — him and the witch. They wanted it. They did it. They had sex, and it was good. If not interrupted, they might have done it again..

He looked at his hammock. Just minutes ago they had been in there, together. He had been that comfortable with _her _— the witch. They hadn't argued at all...

Zoro had another horrible grimace on his face now. Being trapped together had done strange things to them, made them behave differently. Suddenly he couldn't fathom what they had done. It was too ridiculous. He ran his fingers through his hair. The only thing he liked about the witch was shutting her up. That was as far as his tolerance for her went, but being forced in each other's company had made them do things they would never do in other circumstances. They used each other to satisfy a need. Fine, he had wanted her, but what happened in the hammock was...different. He hadn't been overjoyed when he'd discovered the hatch was open. Zoro forced that thought out of his head. He grabbed his scattered T-shirt and put it back on. He looked at his surroundings to make sure there was nothing else incriminating before picking the discarded package off the floor, next to the couch and leaving the men's-quarters.

OooO

"Robin!" Nami yelled, lowering herself on to the stairs in the women's-quarters and shutting the trapdoor, above her. The other woman sat on the couch, pretending to read a book, when she actually was waiting. "How could you do that?!" Nami demanded, rushing down the stairs on her bare feet.

"Calm down navigator-san, what did I do?" Robin asked with a mischievous smile. She noticed the navigator's flushed skin and dishevelled hair.

"I know you trapped me in the men's-quarters with Zoro," Nami said, adjusting her T-shirt and placing her hands on her hips.

Robin closed her book. "Oh my, what an unfortunate thing to happen to you and swordsman-san," she said, calmly and waited for the navigator's response. Nami's eyes strayed from the older woman's face and hovered above her head — her mind drifting somewhere else. A faint smile of satisfaction appeared on Robin's face. "— But navigator-san," she continued. "If you were trapped in the men's-quarters, how then are you free now?" she asked, sweetly.

"Huh?" Nami frowned with confusion, her mind coming back from memories of a certain someone's touch and absorbing that Robin wasn't behind it as she had thought. "Oh, I think Usopp let us out..." Then her anger returned. "But if it wasn't you...then Usopp's responsible, and I'll make him pay!" she hissed, lifting her left hand into a fist.

Robin smiled and stood up. "I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable, being trapped with swordsman-san," she said placing her book into the bookshelf, next to the couch.

"It was.._bearable_," Nami said in a negative tone, taking a whiff of her t-shirt.

Robin chuckled and walked passed her. The raven-head climbed the stairs, but before pushing the trapdoor open, she stopped. "And I do hope you used protection," she added before escaping through the hatch.

"Robin!" Nami gasped and spun around. She lifted her hand to her mouth, realising the older woman was responsible. "Why did she do that?" the navigator asked in the silent room. She couldn't understand why Robin had trapped them. So they'd make peace? How could sleeping together help that? They still couldn't stand each other. He'd always be a lazy back-talking moron, so she could never get along with him, but they did get along in his room earlier, eventually...after a whole lot of fighting. She had to admit that. Nami shook her head as if that simple act could erase the memory and the fact that it had happened.

OooO

Usopp was in the hold. He had waited for a moment, but there hadn't been any sign of Zoro, so he had hoped that maybe the swordsman was taking a nap. He'd decided that it was safe enough to sneak down to the cargo hold to get some rope he needed.

The sniper searched for rope he had purchased the previous day, before he and Luffy had gotten caught up by the octopus creature. He kept his eyes on the thankfully closed entrance to the women's-quarters and also made sure to check on the dangerously open entrance to the men's-quarters — unfortunately, he still missed the swordsman's exit from the hatch.

OooO

Once on the main deck, Zoro heard Luffy and Chopper up on the bow. He quickly moved to the railing, dropping the plastic packet with its soiled contents into the sea. Then he went to find a certain long-nosed boy, whom he'd noticed, while coming through the hatch, was in the hold.

OooO

'How did this happen?' The sniper thought to himself, shaking. It had been Robin's idea to trap them together and all he had wanted to do was help bring peace back to the merry, but somehow, _he _alone was being accused of trapping them _– _the two scariest people on the ship! They kept calling _his_ name when banging on the cover!

All he needed was the rope then he'd hurry back up to the crow's nest — his temporary hiding place.

Suddenly...

The hold got a lot darker and Usopp turned around to see the swordsman standing in the doorway, blocking out the sunlight.

The youth began to quiver. "Uh, Z-Z-Zoro!" he stuttered, and the quivering of his body could be heard in his voice.

Zoro took a few steps to reach him and swiftly grabbed on to his overalls with both hands, lifting him in the air. "Where are my swords?" he seethed.

"R-R-Right there, Zoro!" Usopp squirmed, pointing with his left hand. The poor youth, known for his lying when facing any scary situations, was so shaken he forgot to pretend he had nothing to do with what happened.

Zoro looked toward his right without dropping the youth and saw his precious swords lying on a crate against the wall. He slowly turned his attention back to Usopp, still holding him in the air. "If you ever pull something like you did today, _ever again_..." he said slowly in a horribly scary base tone.

"I won't! I won't!" Usopp promised and after a few more agonising seconds of glaring, Zoro dropped him back on to his feet and strolled over to his swords. Patiently, he tied them to his waist while the quivering sniper looked on.

Then, to Usopp's dismay, the trapdoor to the women's-quarters flew open behind him, and for a brief second he feared that it was the fiery navigator — a raven head emerged instead. Robin took in the situation as she entered the hold, just having left a shocked Nami behind. She saw Zoro had his swords back and was tying them back on. The long-nosed youth looked like he feared for his own life. Usopp gave her a pleading look, but Robin just shrugged, amused, and walked out. Zoro followed shortly after but not before giving the sniper one last warning glance before leaving. Outside, he grinned evilly after hearing Usopp exhale loudly. After that confrontation, Usopp decided he really couldn't handle Nami's wrath as well, so he just deserted his search for rope. The sniper ran out of the hold just in time, missing the appearance of the navigator.

Nami made her way to the bathroom for a much needed bath. She craved soap and water and seriously considered burning her clothes after their exposure to _that _couch.

It wasn't long before dinnertime and she didn't have much time to have a good soak. She wanted to make it on time for dinner. Everything had to be normal, as if nothing had happened that afternoon. At least she'd be clean. Her unsettled nerves would have to take care of themselves later. Nami took the time not just to clean the results from their time together off her body, but to absorb what she had allowed herself to do — allowed Zoro to do. She let him touch her so intimately and let him go places she would barely allow _any_ man to go, let alone him! She squeezed her lids together to squash the images and the feeling of his hands on her body from her mind. She had initiated the act on the couch because she had clearly wanted him, but she couldn't understand what had happened in the hammock. Sure, she had been bored, and Zoro on the floor, sweaty and doing crunches had been...appealing, but what happened after though, was...surprising. Their movements had been quiet and patient. Their contact, slow and sensual, as if they were...used to being together, that way.

Nami wanted to reach for her shampoo bottle, but realised she had forgotten it in the women's quarters. She cursed, irritated that she wouldn't be able to clean her hair, as well. That reminded her of the discarded clothes. She'd have to boil them in extremely hot water, later. After the bath, Nami changed into a shirt and pants unlike the skimpy shorts and T-shirt she had worn before. The day was practically over but the navigator had the need to cover up.

OooO

On deck, Zoro sat himself down on the railing overlooking the island.

"**Oi!" **A voice called from nearby, on the rocky edge.

The swordsman looked across and spotted a short, stocky man with a very black beard and a rather sparkling grin looking up at him. Zoro didn't react, except to study the man with his frowning eyes. Something about the man immediately unsettled him. He seemed too – friendly.

"You lot waiting for your pose to set as well?" he asked, pleasantly.

Zoro gave one nod. He then noticed the man's eyes dart in the direction of the bow where Luffy had started to entertain Chopper again with his rubber abilities, diving from the figurehead, like a worm landing on the deck.

"Where are you docked?" the swordsman asked, bringing the stranger's attention back to him.

"Oh, at the port. If we'd known about this spot we might have joined you and skipped the docking fee," he joked. "But this side is too far from the town and I doubt our ship could drop anchor so close to land as well as yours does," he commented, his eyes scanning the hull of the merry. "She's been through a lot, eh?" he asked, noticing the obvious damage the merry had suffered through her journeys.

Zoro didn't respond again, wondering what the man was doing all the way over on this part of the island and he himself had admitted it's far from the town. The man decided not to push the impenetrable wall that was Zoro. "Well, I won't keep you any longer." he backed up. "Good luck on your journey," he greeted and walked away. Zoro silently watched his departure into the woods. The man definitely was not just a crew member. He had to be the captain or at least someone of importance, but what was up with the lonely walking in isolated areas?

OooO

At dinner, the swordsman found Robin sitting on his usual spot, but he thought nothing of it. He untied his swords and placed them on the floor, against the wall, before sitting down on the other end of the bench. Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were already seated and eating.

Usopp had risked showing his face because he felt he'd be safe, surrounded by his other crew mates. He didn't believe that Nami and Zoro would want the rest of the crew to know they had been stuck together. Unfortunately for the poor youth, Zoro planted himself right across him and the swordsman playfully glared at him. His meal instantly lost its appeal.

"I hope you had an entertaining afternoon, swordsman-san," Robin said, noticing the exchange between the two men. "And that you found everything you needed...nearby."

Zoro froze.

"Entertaining afternoon?" Sanji repeated with distaste as he planted Zoro's plate in front of him."

Just then, Nami walked in. She noticed the new seating arrangements and knew Robin was behind that too. 'What's she trying to do?" She thought.

"Nami-swaan! I hope you didn't miss me too much! But I had to be there for Robin-chwaan! If only you had joined us, my sweet!" he sang as he prepared her plate. The swordsman shifted himself and his plate towards Robin, making space for the navigator. Nami sat down next to Zoro and the two kept their eyes to themselves.

Nami smelled nice. She obviously had just taken a bath. Zoro couldn't help but steal a glance at the witch as he ate. Her skin glowed and he could see the edges of the hair in her neck were damp. Zoro stank. Nami couldn't help wanting to pinch her nose. It hadn't bothered her at all down in the men's-quarters, but now the moron was just offensive.

"There you are, my sweet," Sanji lovingly placed her plate before her, but she didn't have much of an appetite.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun," she managed with a dry throat.

"Oh I had the best time today. Thank you, Robin for taking us to the carnival." Chopper beamed.

"You are welcome, Doctor-san," Robin smiled. "I am sad however, that this is our last day on the island and that we won't be able to visit the carnival again. It was quite lovely." She smiled, adoringly.

"Ooh! Ooh! Maybe we could go one last time tonight!" Luffy suggested, excitedly, needing someone to escort him.

"No!" Nami exclaimed, suddenly. Everyone looked at her, including a ticked off Zoro.

"I mean, no, you can't go... without me...if...you do go..." she trailed off, avoiding everyone's eyes and looked back down at her food. The last thing she wanted was to stay behind...alone...with Zoro..._again_.

Zoro continued to eat when he realised she wasn't ordering the captain around again.

"Nami-san, you can walk with me and I'll win you all the treasures you want!" the cook cheered holding his hands under his chin.

"I'll go too."

All eyes turned to Zoro as he kept his eyes on his plate and ate.

"Then I'll stay!" Nami said, quickly. All eyes moved back to her. She wasn't thinking straight. Zoro saying he'd go too put a picture in her head of the two of them somehow being joined at the hip and sticking together like conjoined twins or something. As if she could never escape him!

Everyone eyed her, surprised.

"Who will watch the ship, if Zoro goes too?" she explained quickly.

"No, Nami-san, you can't watch over the ship alone!" Sanji exclaimed. He turned to Zoro. "Hey, shitty swordsman! You can stay here!" he hissed.

"Hey, I was stuck here all day. Why can't I go out and have some fun too?" Zoro barked back.

Nami slightly turned her head in the green head's direction, offended at his words. He did, after all use the word 'fun' when referring to their activities in the men's-quarters earlier. She pouted.

"Stuck?" Sanji said with irritation. "You chose to lie around on board all day when you could have gone anywhere you liked."

Nami really lost her appetite now. Zoro's angry eyes shifted from the cook and on to Usopp. The swordsman's mind had actually strayed to what he'd been doing all afternoon. He might have seemed to be looking at Usopp but it was more through him. Poor Usopp thought he was getting a threatening glare.

"I'll stay and watch the ship!" he offered out of fright, thinking Zoro was making him do it.

"Then it's settled!" Sanji exclaimed, excitedly grabbing on to the offer. "Oh my Nami-san," he knelt on the floor next to her "we'll have such a romantic evening." he mused.

Robin noticed Zoro focus more intently over his food.

OooO

Dinner was almost over and Zoro had already finished his meal, but refused to speak to the witch. He sat, stuck between her and Robin with his arms folded. Nami sat between him and his precious swords as she struggled through her meal. Sanji was washing up and Chopper, Luffy and Usopp had left the galley a while ago. Finally, Robin finished her meal and took her plate, as well as Zoro's and took it to Sanji. Zoro was about to escape from Nami's side, but she grabbed on to his haramaki. The swordsman looked back at her with a scowl. "Meet me outside," she whispered, eyeing Robin and Sanji. Zoro stood up and circled the table, snatching his swords up from Nami's side and leaving the galley.

OooO

When she finally made it outside, Nami searched for the swordsman and found him on the upper-deck, by the railing. "What do you want, witch?" he asked.

"I want to clear the air," she said, avoiding his eyes, experiencing déjà vu, standing with him in the dark again, close to a certain spot. "What happened in the men's-quarters, we must never talk about it again. It never happened," she stated, firmly.

Zoro watched her in silence. "That depends on you, witch," he said.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"You're a girl, you would get all clingy about something like that," he said.

"Bastard!" Nami tried to slap him, but naturally never got that far. "Don't think you're that immune to feeling anything, Zoro," she said with anger as he held her wrist.

"Ghah," he scoffed and released her, her words affecting him more than he let on. "Your love-cook is probably waiting for you," he said over his shoulder and immediately fled the place where he had kissed her for the first time.

The group finally left and Usopp watched them walk off into the distance, with relief. Hopefully his sacrifice would make Zoro get over the whole trapping-him-in-the-men's-quarters thing. He sighed and went to get the hammocks he still had to tie back up.

OooO

Nami walked at the front of the group, flanked by Robin and Sanji. It was a beautiful, moonlit evening and the white glow falling over the group only added to Sanji's romantic mood. The cook was bubbling over with excitement over the prospect of being under the romantic lights with Nami. He tried to slip his arm around her shoulders, but the navigator slapped his hand back. Zoro noticed the cook's tiny attempt at physical contact being rejected. He was walking behind Nami, flanked by Luffy and a very nervous Chopper. The doctor feared a giant fish might jump out from the tall dark trees.

Suddenly. "Chopppppperrrrrr."

The little reindeer dared a glance behind Zoro where the whispering voice was coming from. All of a sudden, Luffy sprang at him with his wavy arms imitating the creatures tentacles. Chopper screamed and fell back on to his backside, paralysed with fear. Luffy snickered, but promptly received a pounding on the head from Nami. "Ow, Nami!" he protested.

"Can't you watch him?!" she yelled at Zoro.

"How the hell was I supposed to know he'd do that?!" he defended and lifted the little reindeer from the ground, who automatically scrambled to his head, still clearly shaken.

Nami grabbed luffy by the scruff of his shirt with one hand. "Walk where I can see you," she hissed at the captain and pushed him to the front to walk between Robin and Sanji.

"Idiot," a disappointed Sanji muttered and bundled luffy to his right side so the blonde could at least walk beside Robin.

They started walking again. Nami fell in line with Zoro, on his right side, to comfort the shaken reindeer. "Was that...really...necessary?" Zoro asked, irritated, as he pried the little reindeer off his head and got him to stand on his shoulder instead.

"What are you talking about?" she threw back at him, lowering her voice and rubbing Chopper's fur. "It's okay, Chopper," she said in a softer tone.

"You're doing it again," Zoro said in a low growl. "You can't treat him like that," he added through clenched teeth.

"It's okay, Chopper," Nami said again before turning back to Zoro. "He did something stupid," she hissed.

"Fine, but you can't treat him like a little child," Zoro pressed.

"Yeah, Nami," Luffy chimed in, amused, looking over his shoulder.

Nami made to give the captain in front of her another pounding on the head, but Zoro quickly grabbed her wrist, causing the two of them to stop on the spot while the others continued to walk. "Hey," Nami said with dangerous eyes. "You don't want me to tell you what to do, so stay out of my business," she said, jerking her hand loose and walking again.

"Your business _is _my business," Zoro pressed, joining her. Nami wanted to laugh. She scoffed and looked away, amused. Then she reached out to touch Chopper's fur again, but her hand brushed against Zoro's hand instead, which was holding Chopper on his right shoulder. He felt the soft brush of her hand. Nami abruptly pulled away as if she had just touched a burning flame. Zoro looked at her, seeing her discomfort.

OooO

The group eventually entered the gates to the carnival and marvelled at the beauty of all the colourful lights and the moving rides. They went to the token booth and bought tokens for the rides. Zoro didn't buy any as he was not getting on any of those silly rides, although the test-your-strength game looked interesting.

"Oh Nami-san, I'll take you on the couple-ride!" Sanji exclaimed. He had taken Robin on what he nicknamed the 'couple-ride' that afternoon. It consisted of white, egg-shaped seats which happened to only be able to take two people. Actually, just like many of the other rides at the carnival, but these seats were curved and would move on a circular surface while spinning around causing the two occupants to fall against each other in their intimate cocoon. He really enjoyed that ride! Before Nami could protest he grabbed her hand and pulled her as gently as possible over to it. Zoro smirked at how Nami must be hating it. Nami suddenly looked at him over her shoulder. "Watch Luffy!" she ordered. The swordsman scoffed.

No one had noticed the captain had run off to a stand, which had a barrel and a target sign that he was very interested in, but hadn't tried out yet.

Chopper's eyes sought out the ride with colourful, carved out horses slowly moving around in circles and was fascinated once again as he had been that afternoon. "Would you like to go on again, Doctor-san?" Robin offered.

"Yeah!" Chopper answered, excitedly, finally scrambling off Zoro's shoulder, and the two left the swordsman behind. Zoro rested his arm on his swords, choosing to watch the annoying navigator and equally annoying cook begin their silly little 'couple ride'.

Sanji helped Nami into a seat and then happily snuggled in next to her. The assistant fastened a metal bar in front of them and moved to secure the other riders in their seats. Nami tried to keep her distance as much as she could in the smooth confined space, but the more she leaned away the more Sanji pushed against her. The ride sprang to life and a romantic tune began to play. The seats all moved around, slowly at first and then gained speed. All riders held on to their bars to keep from tossing around too much. Zoro suddenly heard Nami's shrill voice over the loud music and the noise of the ride. _**"Sanji-kun, let go!" **_she yelled, _**"Hold on to the bar with both hands!" **_Sanji had thrown his one arm around her, his eye throbbing and his mouth gaping. Zoro smirked at the navigator's discomfort as he watched their seat go by and saw Nami's irritated expression, but then the orange head started to find the situation bearable. The speed they were moving at was thrilling, the music was romantic and she was snuggled in the cocoon by Sanji's lean body. She chose to relax and enjoy the moment. They swayed around and around and Nami's body tingled with enjoyment at the speed.

"Isn't it fun, Nami-san?!" Sanji asked, having snapped out of his stupor.

"Yes, it is, Sanji-kun!" she exclaimed. She could see why Sanji called it a 'couple-ride'. It was quite intimate. The other riders were screaming at the top of their lungs for no reason really but for the thrill of the ride.

Nami decided to join in. "_Sanji-kun_!" she screamed, laughing. Zoro heard her scream the cook's name and her laughing.

_**"Hai, Nami-saan!" **_Sanji's overjoyed voice rang out as well. Then Zoro saw the excited expression on her face as their seat turned into view. His gloating smile disappeared from his face and he scoffed with an irritated frown.

OooO

Luffy stood before a barrel, reaching just below his chest in height. "Eeheeheeheeheehee," he chuckled.

He'd wanted to try this stand out that afternoon, but hadn't had the right crew member with him then. He looked at the swordsman, standing in the distance.

"_**Oi, Zorooooooo**_!" The green head heard his captain call. Zoro turned his face in time to see and realise what was about to happen and to brace himself when Luffy's on-coming hand snatched him up by the arm and the swordsman went flying over to where the captain was. Zoro crashed into Luffy and they landed on the hard ground.

"Stupid idiot!" Zoro sat up, rubbing his sore head which had collided with the hard ground. Luffy just snickered and stood up.

"Hey, try and drop me?" he asked, happily.

"What?" Zoro groaned, standing up.

Luffy stripped his shirt off and discarded his sandals. "Eheeheeheeheehee," the captain chuckled again as he then climbed up on to a mechanical seat located above the wide barrel. "Oi Zoro, try and throw that target sign and..." he didn't have time to finish the instructions when the swordsman saw Nami and Sanji move away from their ride and walk off — together. He immediately did what Luffy asked, taking his eyes off the moving couple just long enough to grab the ball the assistant threw to him, spot the target and throw the ball, roughly.

The ball hit the target, first time and Luffy dropped into the barrel with a splash. As Zoro watched the couple in the distance again, he suddenly heard struggling in water. He turned to find the stunned assistant trying to pull Luffy from the water, in the barrel he had just fallen into.

"Dammit!" Zoro growled and pushed the guy out of the way, but a pair of arms sprouted from the barrel and lifted Luffy from the water and dropped him on to the ground. Robin had seen what had happened from the ride she and Chopper had just climbed off of. "You idiot! Don't you know any better?!" Zoro yelled.

Luffy managed to laugh while Zoro stepped on his stomach to squeeze the water from his bloated body. "Oi Zoro...but you were here to pull me out," he said.

_**"Zoro!" **_the swordsman turned to see an angry Nami coming at him, followed by Sanji. Obviously they had also seen what had happened. Zoro looked at her in exasperation. Nami reached him and started pounding at him and Zoro lifted his arms to block the in-coming blows.

"Oh my," Robin said with a chuckle as she and Chopper ran over to the group.

"Stop that, Woman!" Zoro yelled, pushing the navigator off him and into Sanji's chest.

"You dare push a woman, stupid marimo?!" Sanji yelled, grabbing Nami from behind in a bear hug that she desperately had to battle her way out of.

"What's wrong with you?!" she yelled at Zoro, once she was free again. "I told you to watch him! You know he shouldn't be anywhere near that amount of water! Are you blind?!" She could feel herself over-reacting, but she really wanted to shout at him, really wanted to get back at him. "Some first mate you are!"

"Are we on _that_ again?!" Zoro yelled back. "Stop judging me, witch!" Passers by gave the pirates suspicious glares at the commotion they were causing.

"Oi guys, look there!" Luffy pointed at the test-your-strength stand as he squeezed water from his shorts. "I have to go win over and over again like I did earlier," he snickered, putting his shirt on again.

**"It wasn't my fault. You know how dumb he can be!" Zoro argued.**

Chopper giggled, "The man at the stand is not going to be happy to see you again, Luffy."

**"Yeah, and that's why he should be watched!" Nami threw back.**

"Shishishishi," Luffy laughed and the two ran off together.

Robin moved over to Sanji.

**"I didn't see _you_ watching over him — spinning around with your love-cook!" Zoro accused in disgust.**

"Hey watch your mouth, marimo!" Sanji chimed in, still standing behind Nami.

Robin hooked him in. "Cook-san let's go keep an eye on our captain." she smiled. Sanji looked at her then back at the arguing pair and wanted to stay and back-up his Nami-san in her confrontation with the marimo, but with Robin so close and her arm hooking him in...

**"I'm not Luffy's right hand, _am_ I?!" Nami yelled sarcastically. "You're always reminding me you're the first mate, so act the part!" **

"Anything for you, Robin-chan," Sanji answered, lovingly. They followed Luffy and Chopper at their own pace, leaving the feuding navigator and swordsman to argue over something everyone else had already forgotten about.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Zoro barked.

"Then stop criticising me!" Nami yelled. "I do a better job than you do of taking care of everyone!"

"No you don't!" he yelled. "You can't keep them safe!"

"But I can recognise danger when I see it and a barrel of that size with water is dangerous to a devil fruit user!" she raged.

"I didn't know it had water in it!" he defended himself.

"You were right there! You had to have known what the stand was about!" she exclaimed.

Zoro clenched his teeth, not able to come out and say that he'd been distracted at the time. Nami took a breath. She sighed. "Zoro, we're never going to agree on this matter. You want the title, but you're not willing to see the job through. I on the other hand just naturally am able to multi-task," she announced, proudly.

Zoro frowned at her. "You need someone to challenge you, witch. You can't have everything your way," he declared and started walking.

Nami looked at him with surprise. "What?" she asked, amused. She walked after him. "So, that's _your _duty is it?"

Zoro stopped at a pirate-bashing game, nearby and looked at it. "Someone needs to do it. Who better than the first mate?" he answered, quietly.

Nami was surprised that he actually saw himself as someone who could handle her. 'What an ego,' she thought with a smirk, eyeing the game as well. She checked her tokens and paid the assistant. "But Zoro, you actually have to be conscious if you want to handle me," she teased, picking up a rubber mallet and preparing to hit six little plastic pirates that would randomly pop out of six holes.

Zoro's eyes shifted to her face, misunderstanding when she said 'handle'. "I didn't mean 'physically handling you'..." he trailed off, awkwardly, just as the plastic pirates began popping up. Nami suffered a couple of misses as she remembered their tussles on the floor of the men's-quarters. "I meant, just being someone who would question you and not jump at your beck and call like everyone else does," he added, his eyes narrowing as he watched her miss every single head that popped up.

Nami gulped. "Okay, but yeah, don't put yourself out, just take your little naps and I'll keep doing what I've been doing, kicking your ass." She laughed, but scowled when the swordsman suddenly snatched the mallet from her hand and moved her aside with his body, taking over and accurately slamming every popping head. Nami slapped him on the arm for being rude.

"That's not good enough," he said.

"What?" she asked, watching how fast his hand moved, impressed with his skill.

"I want you off my back," he said, focusing on getting each head. "The less I see of you, woman, the better."

Nami's face dropped with his cold words and she grabbed the mallet back. Zoro looked at her, meeting her eyes. He was tired of what she did to him, how she made him behave. If she wasn't around, he'd probably have more peace. Nami tried to smile again to hide her shock. "Am I that intimidating?" she said, teasing again and started slamming heads almost as perfectly as he just did.

"You're not intimidating. You're just a nuisance," he said, watching her moves, not seeing the glimmer of pain in her hidden eyes. Nami dropped the mallet, roughly. Again he made her feel small, like she didn't matter. She turned and walked away, in the direction they had come from, stopping a few feet away from him. The navigator suddenly felt very exhausted. The whole day had been tiring and she was finally feeling it now.

Zoro watched her, surprised at her reaction. He'd half expected her to try to hit him like she usually did. He took the mallet again, noticing there were only a few seconds of game-play left, and slammed heads until the machine showed a winning score. He turned to look if Nami had seen, but she still stood with her back to him. He frowned.

"Hey, buddy, here you go," the assistant said to Zoro. The green head turned to him, confused. "Your prize, a fluffy toy for your girl," the guy said, holding out a pocket-sized fluffy toy.

Zoro pulled a face.

"I'm going back to the ship," Nami suddenly spat, from where she was standing and started walking.

Zoro turned around. "Fine, get someone to walk with you!" he barked.

"What, the hell, do you care?!" she yelled back and walked in the direction of the gates.

"Nami!"Zoro called, angrily.

"Hey guy, take it," the assistant insisted. "Looks like you need it, chicks love the fluffy stuff, you know," he said, seeing the orange head walking away.

"Shit!" Zoro cursed and grabbed the little fluffy toy, rather aggressively.

"Good luck!" the guy called as the swordsman went after the navigator.

Nami kept walking and after a couple of leaps, Zoro caught up with her, grabbing her arm.

"Let go, you brute!" she ordered.

"I said, take someone with you!" he demanded.

"Oh, so now I'm supposed to listen to you?" she jerked her arm free. Nami felt herself on the verge of tears and wanted to hurt him the way he'd hurt her. "You know what?" she said. "You want to be rid of me so badly, then _fine_. I won't bother your _lazy ass_ any more!"

Zoro looked at her with a surprised frown. She was very upset. Nami turned her face away so he would stop staring. She wanted to be anywhere but where he was. She couldn't believe how much he had hurt her and he still seemed oblivious about it. Then her eyes fell on the barrel Luffy had almost drowned in. Her conniving mind starting to cook something up as she stared at it. She turned back to Zoro. "You wanna be rid of me so badly? I'll leave you alone – on one condition," she said, pushing her pain aside and facing him, boldly.

"What condition?" Zoro asked, still frowning.

Nami managed a smirk. "I'll leave you alone for...two and a half weeks." she said, thinking aloud. "That's about how long it'll take us to get to the next island. I'll do that if you let me — " she moved closer to him, looking him in the eye.

Zoro stood still. Only his eyes moved, watching her face get closer. "Let you _what_?" he demanded in a quiet tone.

Nami grinned, evilly. "Drop you in that barrel," she announced.

The swordsman immediately shot a glance at the barrel, his face covered in a scowl. "Forget it, witch!" he yelled with shock, still looking at it.

"Oh come on, Zoro, I'm offering you two and a half weeks of peace," she teased. "And, I want payback for the cruel words you just said."

Zoro looked into her eyes for a moment. "Two and a half weeks of being free from you wouldn't be worth it, I'd want a couple of months," he said, leaving out the part about hurting her.

Nami gasped in shock. He was actually considering it. "You mean, you'd actually let me do it?" she asked, taken aback.

"Maybe...I don't know...for a couple of months..." he muttered.

The navigator felt like she needed to rub her eyes or something to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Then she realised, that was how much he wanted to be rid of her. "Two and a half _weeks_," she said, angrily.

"A few months!" Zoro pushed.

"Only until the next island!" she yelled. "Two and a half weeks!" She obstinately folded her arms and watched him with no expression.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he demanded.

"Do I look like I'm messing around?" she hissed.

Zoro looked at her face. She was more angrier than usual. Her eyes burned into him with such intensity he couldn't do anything but believe her. He knew he had hurt her. He was surprised though, that he had hurt her that much with his words. They were used to saying harsh things to one another, but she never got teary-eyed. Well, she did seem to be hurt when he called her evil the previous night, but that was justified, cause she scoffed at his honour and determination to be strong enough to deal with any enemy he had to face. He really needed to be rid of the witch. He clenched his jaw, accepting defeat."..._Fine_!" he relented. "But for those few weeks, I don't want any ordering or criticising or manipulating from you, _at all_! No comments from you, _at all_! You _stay _out of my business!"

"_Deal_," Nami said, really wanting to punch him in the face at that moment, but she held her hand out to him instead, and Zoro grabbed it and shook it aggressively as if she were a man.

"Oh — " Zoro continued, jerking her closer with his tight grip on her hand. Nami found herself familiarly close to his lips, his penetrating eyes. "I'm trusting you, this once, but if you go back on this deal, then you _are _nothing but a liar and an evil _witch_." He dropped her hand and walked to the barrel.

"_Jerk_," she said with a hiss and followed him.

The navigator paid the assistant. This was definitely worth the money. Zoro untied his swords, pulled his boots off and cursed as he removed his bandana, T-shirt and haramaki. Nami stole a glance, even though the image of him was still fresh in her mind.

"Ooh, I'd like a peace of him." Two girls, Nami's age, spotted Zoro undressing and eagerly wanted to join in in the dunking of the tanned, well-built swordsman. Nami glanced over her shoulder.

"Hey!" she hissed at the two girls who were checking their tokens. "I'll be the only one doing any _dropping _here," she stated in a threatening voice.

The girls eyed her with disappointment and dislike written all over their faces. "Possessive _bitch_," the one mumbled as they gave up and walked away.

"_Hag!" _Nami spat back. "And I'm not _possessive,_" she added more quietly. Then her eyes fell on Zoro – her very recent lover. The navigator scowled and forced her eyes off him, looking at the assistant, instead. The man was waiting. He threw her a ball and she successfully caught it.

Zoro made his way up on to the seat above the barrel, feeling very stupid. That moment, Luffy happened to notice what was going on and ran over to them followed by the others. "Heeheehee, what's happening, Zoro?" he asked, enjoying seeing the green head in such a precarious spot.

Zoro groaned and folded his arms over his bare chest, feeling very exposed.

Sanji laughed. "Stupid marimo! Go, Nami-san! Go, Nami-san!" He cheered, surprised that Roronoa Zoro was allowing the navigator this opportunity, but revelled in it.

Zoro met Nami's gaze. She stood, bouncing the little ball on her hand. "This is good. You need a bath anyway," she said with a sly smile.

'It's worth it!' he thought to himself. He'd be rid of her nagging and criticising. He could picture the endless naps. Of course, he'd still have to hide out in Robin's company to escape Luffy's crazy stunts, but no more nagging from the witch! That was all that mattered.

"Go, Nami! Go, Nami!" Luffy and even Chopper now had joined the cheering even though they had no idea what was going on. Robin knew something was up. The swordsman wouldn't put himself in such a situation for nothing. She wondered what the deal was.

Nami braced herself and gave it her best shot.

"Awwwwwww," The cheering squad moaned when she missed.

The assistant threw her another ball and she gave her second attempt.

"Go, Nami! Go, Nami! —"

"Ugh!" Nami hissed when she missed again. She wanted to see that idiot fall!

"Do you want _me_ to do it Nami-san?" Sanji called from behind, desperate to see a green head bob in the water.

"Shut up!" Nami growled.

"Hai, Nami-san," Sanji responded, obediently.

Nami caught the third ball, but this time, glared at Zoro as she held it in her hand. 'I don't want you! I don't like you! I can't stand you!' She drilled the thoughts into her mind, then turned away and threw the ball...

"Yeaaahhhh!" the three crew members cheered as the seat finally gave way and Zoro fell into the water with a heavy splash before finding his feet.

Nami stood in silence as the crew cheered. She didn't feel as satisfied as she'd thought she would. It was over. She'd received her reward, and now, all that remained was her letting him have his. She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw him standing in the barrel. Zoro watched the navigator approach him. She stopped in front of the barrel, facing him. "Congratulations, you're free," she said, quietly and walked off as he stood in the water, dripping, his eyes following her.

Robin went after the navigator and fell in line next to her. She could see the girl was upset. Nami glanced at her. "Not now, Robin," she said. "I'm still mad at you."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the raven-head commented. "You look sad, navigator-san, I think you care deeply about swordsman-san," she daringly stated her opinion.

Nami scoffed. "No, I don't!" she threw back. "But, if I did, then it would be your fault for trapping us together."

"Really, Navigator-san? I don't think I made you kiss swordsman-san last night," she answered, sincerely.

Nami stopped and looked at Robin in shock. It looked to Robin as if the navigator was going to say something, but then Chopper joined them. "Come on, Chopper," Nami said, instead, still absorbing Robin's words. "It's getting late. Let's get back to the ship."

"Oi Zoro, you looked so stupid falling into the water, heeheeheehee," Luffy chuckled, watching the swordsman squeeze water from his pants and pull his boots back on.

"Yeah, marimo, you looked completely hopeless," Sanji added, rubbing it in. Zoro really wanted to bash their heads in, but his soaked lower half completely drenched his fiery anger. "What I want to know is," the cook said, lighting a cigarette and blowing smoke from his mouth. "Why you let Nami-san do that to you?" he asked suspiciously.

"None of your business, ero-cook," Zoro said, gripping his bandana in his clenched teeth as he tightened it around his arm again.

"Ill-mannered shit head!" Sanji bit back. "I'll just have to ask Nami-san myself," The cook was suddenly distracted when he noticed the girls leaving. "Nami-saan! Robin-chaan! Are you leaving? Wait for meee!" he sprinted after them to escort them back to the ship.

Zoro was finally dressed again, but couldn't wait to get back to the ship with his soaked pants already creating puddles in his boots. He grabbed his swords and fell in line with Luffy, keeping his eyes on the navigator as they followed the women from a distance.

"It's definitely worth it," he muttered to himself.

TTT

**A/N: Wow, this chapter took editing and editing and editing..., lol. I wanted to add more carnival activity, but the chapter already kept getting longer and longer, hehe.**

**A few weeks ago a carnival was set up right behind my place of residence and the first thing I thought was: 'Ooh research!' I hadn't been to a carnival in years. Unfortunately, the rides I went on were too daring for anything Sanji would take Nami on. I tried the **Mexican Hat/Travant **for the first time. Wow! :D **

**A very special thanx to my reviewers of the previous chapter for your encouraging words. You guys and gals are lovely. :)**

**B'Bye now. :)**


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